Dead Rising
by Spyash2
Summary: Three years ago Naruto Uzumaki was marked as K.I.A by his superiors. Found in another dimension with little to no memory of his past or how he got there, Naruto was experimented by the organization who found him: Group 935. Several months after Naruto vanished, the Elemental Nations are invaded by an enemy that slowly adapts to their every move. Three years later... Naruto returns.
1. Prologue

Dead Rising

Prologue

"Is it ready?" A blonde haired, blue eyed teenage boy asked.

A middle aged man with blue eyes and short cut blonde hair nodded. His attire consisted of an open buttoned light green military grade jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Revealing the man's arms. Underneath the jacket he wore a black shirt with dog tags hanging loosely from his neck. A cartridge belt was over the jacket with a sheathed combat knife securely underneath. His combat trousers which were the same colour as his jacket, leather leggings and brown boots were covered in dry mud and blood.

Hanging from his shoulder was an M-16 assault rifle. A M1911 Colt. was holstered securely at his waist.

The boy he is talking to, is Naruto Uzumaki. However, unlike the boy who always wore a smile when he was younger. He is older, wiser, and had a stoic look on him that didn't seem right to see on his face. His bright blue eyes that seemed to draw people in, had dulled over the years he had grown.

Unlike his fellow blonde who was a fully fledged soldier, Naruto wore clothes that were the exact opposite of what he wore when he was younger. There wasn't a speck of orange anywhere on him. Instead the blonde haired, blue eyed teen wore a pair of olive coloured trousers and black boots that are dirtied with mud and dried blood and a light green jacket with the sleeves rolled up to show off his bare arms.

Like his fellow blonde Naruto had a M1911 holstered at his waist. However this one had a silver cameo look to it and was engraved. He also had a M-14 assault rifle too. It being one of his favourite weapons.

"Just about, Naruto." The man answered with a heavy American accent. He frowned looking concerned as he gazed toward the large gate like mechanical structure in front of them. "But are you sure you want to go through with this though? Going back to your birth place I mean?" He questioned as he tore his gaze away from the gateway and back to the kid.

The teen let out a bitter laugh before looking at the man. "Dempsey, we both know I hate the place where I was born. Back there I can scarcely remember being ignored by nearly everyone for most of my childhood. Even if I can't remember much of it, what I do remember leaves bitterness in my mouth that I can't get rid of. " He sighed and shook his head as he ran a hand through his hair.

A little back story is needed for others to understand. Naruto Uzumaki has amnesia. The first thing he remembered upon waking up was him remembering his own name, age and day of birth. Other details such as where he came from, he could not remember. It wasn't long until he was found and promptly knocked unconscious before being taken to some secret facility. It was in this facility where he quickly found the people there were being experimented on by these scientists who are trying to see what side effects element 115 has when they've been injected in to corpses and living people.

He joined them days after he arrived and like the others had undergone the same experiments as the others. This had made his memories, which were barely there to begin with, get even worse than before.

Naruto from then on was a blank slate. Having no memories except his name and age, and being able to talk. This was the primary reason for his change of attire. He didn't like the fact that his clothes were so bright and a new change of attire was needed. Urgently. He quickly learnt the people who were experimenting on him and the others are part of an organisation called "Group 935", who was researching in the ways of creating super soldiers, and super weapons. This involved a lot of experimentation on weapons development, and a lot of people being kidnapped to take part in these super soldier experiments.

It was where Naruto first met Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki for the first time. And through them he met Doctor Edward Richtofen. For months he and the other three were experimented on by the Doctor and his associates, being injected daily with element 115 and being studied for its side effects.

It wasn't long until it was discovered there were several of them. Frighteningly most of these side effects were fatal. The ones who had survived the initial experiments, if he overheard them correctly had lost their memories, but became much more healthier and stronger. Their personalities would under go some changes thanks to these side effects.

Tank Dempsey's attitude becoming a lot more aggressive in nature. Nikolai Belinski becoming a drunkard and himself not wanting to dress in sickeningly bright colours were perfect examples of personality changes.

For those that haven't survived...what Naruto had heard of what became of them were pretty disturbing. Rumour was the dead had been reanimated and came back to life with glowing yellow eyes. But they were always out of control and aggressive. Even more disturbing is they had grown a taste for living flesh.

Thanks to being a blank slate and retaining most of his personality, Naruto was able to befriend Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey fairly quickly. When the three met him for the first time, they were all appalled how a child was under going these experiments and took it upon themselves to look after him. Takeo in particular was furious upon seeing Naruto being dragged away forcibly by scientists to under go more experimentation. It took several people to subdue the man. Such was his fury at the dishonour the men had.

It wasn't long until they began experimenting on other things other than humans. Naruto could vaguely remember Richtofen and...someone called Maxis, or Maxwell, testing a new piece of technology that could theoretically teleport people from one place to another. Their subjects to test these out, were at first the walking dead. But every time they tried to teleport them to the mainframe outside, they always turned up dead. Again.

So they moved on to the living. They couldn't test the test subjects who were being experimented on with Element 115, so they had to use other methods. Such as dogs. That didn't turn out so well however. Edward Richtofen, who had mysteriously gone under some rather drastic changes, betrayed his leader during one of the experiments. Then he set the undead who were trapped loose upon the facility, presumingly killing everyone in the process while he freed Tank, Nikolai, Takeo and himself before bringing them along to Shi No Numa to begin a master plan they had no idea about.

Through their journey together, fighting zombies and other monstrosities, the four began to recover bits and pieces of their past life and learn more about Group 935 and the people who were part of it. A little girl, who was the daughter of Doctor Maxis, or Maxwell, was the one who was sending the dead after them because of what Richtofen did.

Throughout all this, through their journeys, everyone began to realise what was going on. They promised that once this was over and done with, they would take care of Richtofen. They never tried killing him during these different locations however, since he was more useful to them alive than dead.

Plus he seemed to understand what the hell they were doing.

The rest from there is history.

"Do not worry comrade! If you want us to come with, just say word!" Nikolai exclaimed loudly. Nikolai Belinski is garbed in a standard Red Army uniform, with the addition of a cloth tied over his head like a bonnet. He carried a sack on his back. No one ever found out what was in it, but there was a running gag between Dempsey and Naruto that, that is where the Russian keeps his vodka. Since he is always drunk, even in the middle of combat.

"I do want you all to come with me. I want people who I trust to watch my back."

"Good. It would not do if you were to go alone." Takeo said as he walked up to the blonde with a stoic look on his face. The palm of his hand resting on the hilt of his katana. He had a Type 100 hanging from his shoulder. "It would bring me much dishonour, if you were to go alone."

Takeo Masaki is a samurai and a former solider in the Japanese Imperial Army who has a high belief in honour and discipline. To him dishonour is unthinkable and would not hesitate to strike you down should you insult him, his family or his ancestors. After fighting side by side with Nikolai, Dempsey and Naruto he has mellowed out. And he is highly protective of the whisker faced blonde.

Naruto chuckled softly at that. "Out of everyone I know, I trust you three the most."

"Vhat about me?" A feminine voice asked in a thick German accent.

Naruto smiled and turned to the person who spoke. "Correction: I trust the _four_ of you the most."

Samantha Maxis, the daughter of Doctor Ludvig Maxis and their former antagonist who controlled the zombies. After Richtofen had tricked Dempsey and the others into completing his grand scheme, he had switched bodies with Samantha, becoming the new master of the undead while she was trapped in his old body.

Luckily for her she found a body of a teenage girl that was not reanimated when she got off the moon with the others. She was able to possess the body, leaving behind Richtofen's to rot.

Long ago when they were still on the moon neither Tank, Nikolai or Takeo trusted her. After all she had done to them they had no reason to trust her. The three were considering getting rid of the girl once and for all after all the grief she put them in.

Hearing that from them made something snap in Naruto. Getting up in their faces he admonished them. Telling them not to blame her for something that was out of her control. They all knew what Richtofen did to her and her father, and, bringing that point to their attention, he asked them what would they have done in her place? Would they have done the same thing if they were in her position?

The only reason she sent the undead after them in general was because they were helping Richtofen, and after learning what he had done they still helped him when they could have easily turned against him.

It was through Naruto vouching for her that Samantha was allowed to stay with them. But Dempsey gave her a not to subtle warning in front of everyone; "If you stab any of us in the back, there won't be anywhere in the world where you can hide!"

"Good." Samantha said with a relieved smile. "I vould have been vorried if you had forgotten about me."

"I cannot believe we are going to use this teleportal gateway to return to your home comrade!" Belched out Nikolai as he staggered he way toward the group, holding a bottle of near empty vodka in his left hand, and a drum magazine PPSh-41 in his right. "I wonder what is like over there, eh?" He wondered before taking another swig of vodka, emptying the entire bottle in one breath before he tossed it carelessly aside.

Everyone looked toward Naruto expectantly for the answer. Blinking at the looks he was being given Naruto stared for a moment, before he deadpanned at them. "Just because I came from there, you think I know the answer?" He asked, to which they nodded simultaneously, causing him to shake his head. He said to them; "I barely remember anything there. But from what I do remember they are not as advanced technology wise."

"What do they use then if not guns like us?" Dempsey asked, looking suddenly curious.

Naruto rubbed his chin, scrunching his face as he tried to recall what little he remembered from his childhood. "From what I remember in school, the academy, or whatever they called it back there, they use this energy they call Chakra. From what I remember, everyone back home has it and if you're trained from a young age to manipulate it, you can do all kind' of godlike shit. Being able to shoot a stream of fire from your mouth is an example."

There was an astonished silence. It was suddenly broken when Dempsey contemplatively asked, "Can you do that?" This had gotten everyone apart from Naruto to stare at him as if he were an idiot.

Naruto answered by forming a cross sign both with index and middle fingers. Closing his eyes to search for the inner energy he had, he grabbed onto it and as if it were instinct he pushed the energy into his digits.

Soundlessly a cloud of smoke appeared beside him, causing everyone to jump back in alarm and reach for their weapons simultaneously. They were astonished to see, when the smoke cloud went away, another Naruto wearing the same clothing as the original looking around the room curiously.

Hesitantly Tank Dempsey approached the clone, reached up and shoved it lightly on the shoulder. The other Naruto grunted in surprise as he stumbled back a few steps before glaring up at the man who pushed him. In retaliation the other Naruto went over to Dempsey and shoved him back in the same way.

Through all of this Naruto was watching in amusement. What he did just now didn't faze him. He didn't know what would happen when he made his fingers form that hand seal, and push his inner energy toward his digits. But when he did everything from there felt natural to him.

"Well...what do you know? I guess I can do it." Naruto said simply to Dempsey, as if he hadn't done anything that defied all logic in the world. Then the clone dispersed into smoke automatically getting everyone to stare at him with wide eyes. Naruto just blinked at them; "What?"

"Could you do that all this time?" Dempsey slowly asked with a twitching eye.

Naruto not seeing Dempsey's irritation answered honestly; "Honestly? If I did that now, then yes I could have done it back then. But take into account that back then I didn't know much of my own past. I didn't even know I could pull off shit like that, with much of my past gone in the first place."

That answer erased Dempsey's annoyance toward the blonde. It made sense. When they all first met Naruto in Der Riese, he didn't even know where he came from. Much less how to fight. But when the undead were let loose on the facility and Richtofen busted them out, Naruto had been forced to adapt on how to use modern weapons.

He had done this by observing them and copying what they've done. Through that learning process he was quickly able to help fight off the zombies.

"So how does this thing work exactly?" Naruto asked turning to look at the gateway behind him. "I assume we have to let it build enough power before pressing the Big Red Button or something?"

Samantha answered that question rather eagerly. "Vell from vhat I have gathered from my father's notes, it is a gateway to zhat brings you to another locations. It would require a small amount of power to activate." It was here Samantha sighed a little in annoyance. "However, vith vhat you are trying to do – to rip open a rift in the fabric of reality itself – it vould, need a lot more energy than required." She then smiled brightly at them. "Luckily for us however it is nearly done!"

"That is good news!" Naruto replied turning to give Samantha a smile of his own. "So how long until it is completed?" He questioned.

"A few more minutes. It should give us enough time to get ourselves ready for the journey to your world." Samantha answered giddily.

"Da!" Nikolai crowed, punching the air cheerfully. "Let us arm ourselves for new journey to new land! May be they have vodka there too, no?" He questioned looking at Naruto expectantly. Naruto in response shook his head negatively. He wasn't even sure if his home land had vodka other than sake. Nikolai stared blankly; "...no vodka? That is blasphemy for this Russian!" He threw his head back and cried out toward the sky righteously.

Naruto covered his mouth to stifle the laugh that was threatening to come out of his mouth. This was why he liked Nikolai. He was just hilarious. And someone you can get along with. Once you get past the drunkenness first.

"Hey, if they don't have vodka, then may be you can use that to your advantage? Use it to drink people under the table? Since that stuff is so strong it's not like people are going to be able to hold it in." Dempsey suggested to the Russian who liked the idea Dempsey provided.

"That is good idea! Play to my strengths!"

Naruto and Samantha stared at the two with amusement. Takeo was shaking his head in mild annoyance in the background. The American and Russian became the best of friends ever since they were trapped inside that ship in Siberia. They always did have some interesting conversations together. Takeo had always put up with their stupidity. It was a miracle the samurai hadn't snapped at them yet.

Goes to show just how much patience the warrior has.

And so the group waited patently for the gateway to build up the needed amount of power to get it working. They all checked their weapons. Making sure they were all fully loaded and that they had the needed amount of ammo for them.

All of them had M1911 Colt's on their possession. Along with three magazines including the one that was already in the chamber. Naruto and Dempsey for their primary weapons had M-16 assault rifles, along with five magazines along with the one already in the chamber to go with them. Takeo had a Type 100, and had the same amount of ammo as both Dempsey and Naruto. Nikolai had a PPSh-41 with four barrel magazines, including the one already on it, to go with it. Samantha Maxis had an MP40 and three magazines, including the one already in the chamber.

They all turned to the gateway when it suddenly whizzed to life. They quickly backed away when electricity began to shoot through the cables connecting it to the outside. The energy build up was insane. It was so big, so huge, they could actually see the energy racing across the metallic surface of the gateway. Giving it an glowing effect.

Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, Samantha and Naruto looked at one another uncertainly. They weren't sure if this was going to work. The likelihood of this failing and blowing up in their faces was too high. They knew this. The worst that could happen is the structure exploding on them, bringing down the facility they were all in and killing them in the process.

However luck was on their side. Thanks to the notes left behind by Doctor Maxis on the gateway the others, with Samantha translating word for word, was able to adjust the settings. So if the energy build up reached critical, the gateway would automatically turn on while still gathering energy. It was good that had done that too. If they hadn't, not only would the gateway exploded from the overload of electrical power, they would have been killed from the energy released from said overload.

The gateway stabilised after a few tense minutes of waiting. Then in the middle of the structure a portal opened showing the group their reflection. They saw the energy still going inside the contraption, most likely to keep it activated until they'd gone through.

Tank whistled in awe at it. "Dang. For a moment there I thought it wasn't going to work." He admitted. He turned to Samantha and asked; "Out of curiosity here, just what would've happened IF it didn't work?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders looking a little clueless about the results herself. "Your guess is as good as mine. Zhe vorse thing zhat could happen is the machine exploding, killing us in zhe process. Zhe best thing: it vould shut itself down before it could get any vorse."

"Well..." Naruto awkwardly began while scratching the side of his head. "...That's somewhat comforting. I think...?" He looked rather unsure at that. Coughing into his fist the young blonde looked to his companion in arms; "So how should we do this? Hold hands as we walk in just incase we get split up?"

Nikolai shrugged his way past the others and made his way toward the portal with his PPSh-41 shouldered. He stopped just in front of the portal and turned to the others with a what could've been a cool smirk, if it not for the fact he was hammered.

With his weapon raised above his head Nikolai yelled out, "For the Motherland!" while everyone else was watching him in growing disbelief, bewilderment and realization.

"...Please don't tell me he's going to do what I think he's going to do?" Naruto pleaded with dread growing in the pit of his stomach. Before anyone could reply or stop the drunk, Nikolai leapt back into the portal leaving everyone there in a state of disbelief.

There was an awkward silence in the room as everyone tried to comprehend what they saw.

"Yep. The moron just leapt into the thing." Dempsey stated blankly before pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing in mild irritation. He looked up and with another sigh, this one in reluctance, he approached the gateway while bringing the M-16 that was still hanging from his shoulder into his hands. This way he would be prepared for whatever was on the other side of that. And provide Nikolai with some support if he was in way over his head.

Stopping in front of the gateway Dempsey turned halfway to look at the others and gave them a two fingered salute. "I'll see that Nikolai doesn't get himself in trouble. I'll see you all on the other side." With that said the former United States marine turned back to the portal before stepping through, leaving Takeo, Naruto and Samantha own their own.

Suddenly Takeo turned to the two youngsters. Particularly Naruto. He was concerned for the boy. Being ignored by everyone when you were a child. Having no parents to look out for you. Comfort you. Having that done to you as a child is bound to leave some scars. No matter how well they're hidden. With that in mind Takeo reached out to Naruto to take his hand. Seeing this the blonde narrowed his eyes in confusion before looking up.

"Perhaps it is not wise for us to go in separately." The samurai told him. It was mostly an excuse for him to make sure they don't get separated the moment they do step into the portal.

Naruto nodded in confirmation – it did make sense after all - and took hold of his hand, while turning and offering his other one to Samantha who grabbed hold of it with a small smile. Nodding to them Takeo turned to the portal and holding the hands of Naruto and Samantha the three approached the gateway. They all stopped right in front of it then looked at one another before stepping through together as one.

They were all blinded by a flash of light and they felt a sensation covering their body. As if they were being shoved through a tube. Then they felt weightless like they were flying in the sky. Lastly they felt their feet meet solid ground, and the cold biting winds against their skin. The three immediately fell to their knees gasping and gagging, as if they were about to hurl their guts up and out of their mouths.

Hearing footsteps in front of them Takeo, Naruto and Samantha looked up and saw Tank and Nikolai walking over to them. They were frowning and appeared to be dragging something behind them. And that was never a good sign. It was then they finally took in their surroundings. Everything around them was nothing but ashes and dust. No grass. No trees, bushes or flowers. Everything was dead. Even the ground they were kneeling on was nothing but mud, ashes and dust.

"What the hell happened here?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock looking around with eyes wide in disbelief.

"I dunno. But it deals with something we five know all too well..." Dempsey stated before he and Nikolai dropped whatever they were dragging to the ground. Moving out of the way so the three could get a better look, Naruto widened his eyes again, not out of shock but out of anger. The blonde bared his teeth aggressively in an angered snarl.

It was a body. A very decayed body of a nameless man that was missing large chunks of flesh. There were teeth marks on the exposed skin too. His clothes, what remained of it, was a tattered black long sleeved shirt and blue trousers, a torn dark green flak jacket, and arm guards that had claw marks on them.

"God-fucking-dam it..." Naruto cursed under his breath.

Dempsey nodded grimly before looking at the corpse with a deep frown. "Yep. We're dealing with zombies. Again." Dempsey told them.

Sighing Naruto took his M1911 from its holster and aimed the barrel of the gun at the top of the deceased man's head and pulled the trigger. The resounding 'bang' echoed out to the distance. Naruto lifted the barrel from the man's dead and placed the weapon back in his holster with another sigh. He ensured the deceased man wouldn't rise up again.

"At least he won't rise up again to turn anyone else." The young blonde murmured solemnly. Getting up off the ground Naruto patted himself down and looked around. The portal the five came out from was long gone now, so there was no turning back for them. "I wonder where the hell we are?"

"You don't know?" Dempsey asked incredulously.

"Of course I don't know! I have amnesia, remember?" Naruto replied irritatingly. Shaking his head Naruto looked around again before bringing M-16 to his front and in his hands. "Let's just...see where we are in terms of location first of all. If there are zombies about I want to know where the hell they're coming from."

Dempsey gestured Naruto to take the lead. "Then lead on kid. We'll follow since you know this place better than we do."

Naruto growled in irritation. "I have amnesia dammit!" He complained but took point anyway.

Smirking with amusement Dempsey followed the younger blonde and made sure to stay close to him. The others were quick to follow and do the same as Dempsey. They were rather protective of the young blonde they had befriended. Even if he could handle himself they still want to make sure he's safe from harm.

They watch out for one another.

It's what friends do after all.

It is what Naruto would do.

* * *

**_Authors note: _**

_Got a few messages from my fans to continue this one shot. They said that the plot was interesting and there are too few of these types of stories on the site. So I thought I'd give it a try, but since I have another story in the works at the moment, this story may not be as updated as the other one._

_Now considering the ninja of the Narutoverse are able to pull off supernatural abilities like it's the norm for them, I decided to make the enemy (the zombies) of the story a lot more difficult. __To understand what I mean by this you have to have played the mini-game, or seen a few people on Youtube playing it. _

_But for those who don't know; in the zombie mini-game, the further you get into the game the harder it is for you to kill zombies. So with the points you gathered by killing the zombies who are trying to kill you, you have to open doors and new areas and buy more powerful weapons in order to survive. You can also buy perks and get power drops to increase your chances of survival. _

_In this story there are six different types of zombies: _

_1) The __walkers. You usually see them stumbling or limping around with their arms outstretched in front of them._ _They are the most common enemy the heroes of this story will encounter._

_2) The runners. These are zombies that run instead of walking. In the mini-game they usually appear during and after the 4th round. _

_3) The sprinters. These are just like runners, but are much faster and can easily catch up to you. If you played the classic zombie mini-game - which was called Nazi Zombies back then - you would have encountered these sons-of-bitches in the map Verruckt._

_ 4) Hellhounds, monkeys any animal type. You first encounter these types of zombies on Shi No Numa in Nazi Zombies, and you meet them again in Der Riese. You encounter the monkeys in Ascension and Shangri-la in Call of Duty: Black Ops. They also have a special ability that makes them unique from the others. An example would be being able to teleport a few yards in front of you._

_5) The fifth zombie type. You encounter these bad boys in Shangri-la. They are are able to use a single element such as fire or wind. The first one, the pyro zombie, was able to burn anything it touches and would explode whenever you got close to it. What was bad about this guy was that it is impervious to damage and to get rid of it you get to get close to it and make it explode. The other one is able to use wind to disorientate and blind you. _

_Unfortunately the 5th type zombies have no name._

_6) Super zombies. These are what I like to call "overpowered to the extreme". You first encounter this type of zombie in Call of the Dead at the very beginning of the game. George A Romero, is one of the "Super Zombies" merely because he is so difficult to get rid of. Not to mention he cannot die! You encounter them again in Moon as "fake astronauts". The ironic thing? These zombies have the names of the hosts friends above them. Like Romero, they are difficult to kill; but unlike Romero they can be killed. They only come back after a few rounds..._

_So the list above are the six different zombie types that are in this story. While some zombie stories I've seen are good the majority of them have the ninja so incompetent that they can't outrun slow stumbling corpses and blast them with jutsu after jutsu a safe distance away. In this story, with every encounter the zombies have with the ninjas, they slowly learn the methods the ninjas attack and adjust accordingly. _

_Plus since they're already dead and have no chakra, most chakra focused attacks will not affect them. For example; ninja techniques like genjutsu or the Eight Trigrams the Hyūga can do, won't do shit on them. They're dead. There is no chakra for them to affect. That doesn't mean an elemental chakra attack won't be effective against them however. _

_So to be clear with you all: zombie types 1-4 the ninja will be able to handle. 5 and 6, they can handle but with a lot of difficulty._


	2. Chapter 1

Dead Rising

Chapter 1

"_What is your name child?"_

"_My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I don't remember where I live. Where I came from. I don't even remember the day I was born...only the month." Was Naruto's almost bored tone as he spoke into the radio recorder the German scientist provided him._

_Sitting opposite him was a bald elderly man with a white scruffy beard. His name is Ludvig Maxis. The leader of the organisation who had found him, bloodied and unconscious in the middle of nowhere a few miles from Der Riese. That was three days ago and the blue eyed whisker faced blonde hadn't regained his memories as of yet. _

"_What is the furthest you can remember?" Ludvig asked as he leaned forward on the table._

_Naruto scrunched up his face as he tried to think. He eventually shrugged, coming up with a blank. "The furthest I can remember is literally three days ago when I woke up here."_

_Ludvig sighed and stopped the tape recorder from playing, having heard all he needed to from the Asian in front of him. "It appears, young one, that you have a severe case of amnesia. Now I see two possibilities. Either it will resolve itself in time, or you may never regain your memories."_

_Naruto shrugged his shoulders not looking bothered at all. "Oh well. It's just memories. I can easy replace those with new ones."_

_Ludvig narrowed his eyes confusingly at the blonde. "Do you not wish to know of your own past?"_

_Naruto crossed his arms against his chest and negatively shook his head. "No, I don't. Why should I bother if I can't remember anything about that is worth bothering?"_

X.X.X.X

The Elemental Nations is in a middle of a crisis. Three years ago a month after the disappearance of one Naruto Uzumaki, the elemental countries was suddenly invaded by an enemy the likes no one had ever seen. With no explanation at all the dead started to rise from their graves and attack the living. In the beginning of the crisis the conflicts was easy. The shinobi and kunoichi's of each hidden village were able to fend off the zombies during the first few weeks and were able to push them back.

Just when the undead were close to being defeated something completely unexpected had happened: the zombies began to adapt to their method of attacks and the ninjas learnt that some of their attacks had little to no effect on the zombies themselves. It was quickly learned that genjutsu was completely useless against the dead. Most ninja techniques that involves disturbing an individuals chakra network was also proven to be useless. Fortunately lot of the offensive techniques are still effective against the zombies and were able to keep the undead at bay.

It was then they discovered another setback. The zombies adapted once again to their method of attacks and all of a sudden they became faster and more agile. They're now able to jump up several feet in the air, being able to reach places a normal person wouldn't be able to. All without the use of chakra. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, more and more different type of zombies began to appear across the nations, over running countries that were not protected by a Hidden Ninja Village within the span of a month.

Within the first two years of this only the Five Hidden Villages and a few others were left standing from the continuous onslaught of the undead. Humanity as a whole had suffered heavy casualties during the first two years. The zombies being able to adapt with each encounter and with new type of zombies appearing out of nowhere it was beginning to take its toll on the survivors.

For two years it had gone like this. Two years that the hidden villages fought against the onslaught alone. And very rarely fought together. Two years since the zombies appeared out of nowhere, Tsunade Senju the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, knew unless they did something the complete and total annihilation of the human race would be inevitable. She called a Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, and with all the Kage's from their respective countries in one place Tsunade began to discuss the enemy that threatens all life as they knew it and suggested that they all band together to face their common foe as one, or die as many.

It was the shortest Kage Summit in the history of the Elemental Nations. Not only did the Kage agree with Tsunade they began to share information on what type of zombies they have encountered thus far and to their shock and horror they realised just how many there are. In total there was six types of undead. Kumogakure was where the sixth zombie type was spotted. It was almost completely impervious to damage and powered itself on electricity. The Raikage Ay had learnt this the hard way when he tried to use his lightening armour against it, only for said armour to get absorbed and regenerate the zombie from any damage it had sustained.

In the end, the Kage Summit ended up with all the villages allying together and sharing their resources with one another and experiences with the different types of zombies they came across and what strategy they use to take them down when they're encountered.

It was one year later and the alliance was still going strong but were at a stalemate with the undead legions that seemingly keeps on growing every day. And on the anniversary of Naruto's disappearance the Elemental Nations is about to receive a visitor from a familiar face who was long thought to be dead...

X.X.X.X

We find Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, Samantha and Naruto standing in front of a bridge. They're all staring up at the sign that had Japanese writing on it. For some reason Naruto was getting some weird Deja vu vibes from just looking at it. It was like he had been here before, but he just can't remember when.

"Hey Takeo, what does that say?" Dempsey asked as he jerked a thumb at the sign that is on top of a bridge the five were standing in front of.

"...The Great Naruto Bridge." Takeo translated after a short bout of silence. The writing is in his language so Takeo was easily able to translate the kanji to English. The samurai looked at the craftsmanship and added; "The bridge appears to have been recently crafted. Two to three years if I am correct."

Naruto arched an eyebrow before chortling in amusement. "Well, isn't that a kicker? There's a big ass bridge that has my name on it." The whisker faced blonde said with a shake of his head.

Dempsey scanned the landscape on the opposite side of the bridge with narrowed eyes and saw it was in far better condition over there. There is a village on both sides of the bridge with a lighthouse on the right side. However being on the mainland that is only connected to the island through a bridge – which is almost a mile long – made the village appear abandoned to the naked eye.

If they want to get a better look then they'll have to get closer.

"What do you say we cross the bridge and see what's what?" Dempsey asked, turning to the others with an expectant look.

"Well we have nothing better to do than wander around aimlessly." Naruto answered with an almost bored sigh. He squinted his eyes, noticing the village up ahead. "We might as well. If there are people in that village up ahead then they can at least tell us where we are in terms of location."

Dempsey nodded in complete agreement with Naruto's assessment. They have no idea on where they are and information is something they sorely need. The only place that has this information happens to be the village on the opposite side of the Great Naruto Bridge.

"Alright. Keep your eyes peeled and your weapons ready. With zombies lurking about we don't know what state the village up ahead is in. So get ready for the worst." Dempsey told them and upon seeing them all nod their head in agreement he turned around and walked across the bridge cautiously with the others following.

Hopefully the inhabitants speak English too. If they don't they're going to have a problem. Unless Takeo translates what they are saying word for word for them.

As for Naruto, the further he crossed the bridge the stronger his deja vu became. He narrowed his eyes as he looked around and they slowly lit up in recognition. He had been here before. The country they were about to go into was called the...

"Land of Waves..." Naruto uttered to himself causing everyone to look at him. Seeing the looks he was getting Naruto added, "That is what the island we're going to is called: Land of Waves."

"A memory from your past?" Nikolai asked.

"Do you know anything else about the island?" Dempsey questioned Naruto after the blonde nodded in confirmation.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in concentration as he tried to remember anything else from his already fractured memories. After a moment of tense silence the whisker faced blonde finally got what information he was looking for and nodded. "From what little I remember, where we're going to is a trading island. It stays on its feet by its shipping for trading and commerce with its neighbours. After that nothing much except for some fighting."

Which was true Naruto could not remember much else after that. He remembers fighting against a man with no eyebrows who had a big ass sword. Some bratty little kid who thought he had it worse than anyone else in the world. More fighting against the eyebrow-less man on the bridge they're walking on and after that nothing much else.

"Vhat do you remember of the fighting?" Samantha asked as she was genuinely curious.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't remember much. There was a man with no eyebrows who had a sword that was three times his size. A masked man with gravity defying silver hair who had a forehead protector slanted over one eye was fighting him. After that it gets a little blurry. But the eyebrow-less man was fighting again with the silver haired man on this very bridge when it was still unfinished... That's it."

"That's it?"

"That's it." Naruto reaffirmed, smiling slightly at the disappointed look Samantha was sending him. Oh well its not like all stories have to be exciting. After all there are thousand of stories being made every day and not all of them are interesting.

Too bad Naruto never realised his story was one where he and the people he was with liberated an entire country, and he himself helped bring back hope for the villagers and became a hero to the inhabitants.

It took them a while but they eventually reached the other side of the bridge and as they looked up they saw another sign had the name of the bridge on it.

"Huh, the name of the bridge is down here as well." Dempsey remarked before turning to the teen the bridge was - unknowingly to them - named after. "Whoever named and built this bridge wanted to make sure the people who crossed it to remember the name."

Naruto blinked at a thought that came up before shaking his head dismissively. "I was here at one point a long time ago if you remember me saying. But I doubt whatever I had done back then, was enough cause for someone to actually name a _bridge_ after me."

"Excuse me." A deep, gruff masculine voice called out.

The group of five turned and saw a large grey-haired, bespectacled elderly man with a large beard and dark eyes approaching them with a few people armed with crossbows, swords and kunai's following him. The man's attire consists a dark sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi tied around the waist line of his pants and a pair of sandals. The man and the group of people following stopped before the group, and warily eyed at their odd attire and equipment.

Pausing for a moment he took in the entire of their appearance in case he needed to identify them later on, the man coughed into his hand and said; "I'm afraid the Land of Waves is on lock down, so, you'll have to move on. With the dead rising from their graves and turning anyone they get their hands on, one cannot be too sure as to who is bitten and who is not."

"How long has it been like this? The dead rising I mean?" Dempsey being the reasonable one out of the group asked, fishing for information. The more they know about the situation in the Elemental Nations the better understanding they'll know of what they're dealing with, apart from the completely obvious.

The elder sighed stressfully as he rubbed his forehead. "It's been like this for 3 years now. And the dead have been getting smarter and stronger through every encounter they have with the ninjas of the hidden villages..." He paused mid-answer, the question he was asked finally registering in his head. He stared at the group hard, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Just where have you been living for the past three years? Under a rock? Just about everyone in the Elemental Nations knows of the dire situation we're facing now."

Takeo quickly answered before anyone else in the group could respond. "We are foreigners from a distant land from across the seas. We have recently arrived and are not knowledgeable in the ways of this land."

It was partially true. Everyone in the group with Naruto being the sole exception are foreigners. But not from the sea; and they did recently arrive to the Elemental Nations. Plus they don't know the current status of the country they're in.

Besides it's not like they can just go and say, "We came from a different dimension and we just arrived here recently. Please tell us what is happening because we have no idea." otherwise everyone would look at them as if they are a bunch of nut-cases.

The elder scratched his chin and stared at the group for a long and tense moment. Eventually he nodded his head, believing that Takeo was telling the truth and bowed to them. "In that case, I apologize for my behaviour earlier. The recent attacks by the walking dead have taken a toll on all of us. My name is Tazuna, former bridge builder and acting leader of the Land of Waves." The man introduced himself.

No one noticed the wince and subtle side-head grabbing from Naruto. The blonde quickly recovered however just as Dempsey introduced himself.

"I am Tank Dempsey." Dempsey introduced himself he jerked a thumb at the Russian standing next to him. "The fat bastard next to me is Nikolai Belinski-"

"Fuck you, American!" Shouted the Russian in retaliation to the insult.

"The guy with the katana is Takeo Masaki." Dempsey continued as if he were never interrupted with Takeo nodding to Tazuna from beneath his cap. "The girl beside blondie here is Samantha Maxis and lastly the blond himself is Naruto."

Dempsey purposely neglected to say Naruto's surname because of Tazuna's former occupation: bridge builder. When the Great Naruto Bridge was being built when Naruto himself was here, there is a good chance that the man in front of them was one of the many that helped to construct it.

And with Naruto being here three years ago... You get the idea.

"Naruto...?" Tazuna said, now looking at the younger blonde with arched brows. "That name takes me back. There was a young boy called Naruto Uzumaki who came to Wave Country as part of a mission I paid for three years ago. In fact, this bridge was named after him after he helped return the freedom we've lost to a tyrant."

Everyone that crossed the bridge gave Naruto a meaningful look at that. Naruto himself was astonished at the fact these people have named a _bridge_ of all things after him! He takes what he said earlier back; what he did here three years ago was enough cause for a bridge to be named after him!

"What did the other Naruto look like?" Naruto asked. While he didn't much care about his own past, this is an opportunity to learn what he was like back then.

Way to contradict your own words kiddo.

"The kid had blue eyes and blonde spiky hair. Three whisker marks on both cheeks. He wore an orange tracksuit with blue on the shoulders and on the waist and a large white collar. There...was a red swirl crest on the back of the orange tracksuit. The kid had orange pants with a shuriken holster attached to his right knee. He wore a pair blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector." Tazuna answered he squinted his eyes as he got a closer look at Naruto. "Now that I think about it, you look a little like him. The same spiky hair, blue eyes and..." Tazuna's eyes slowly went wide in shocked disbelief upon realising who was in front of him. His mouth dropped open soon after as he stared at the missing hero who was long thought dead.

Naruto blinked when he saw the man literally go immobile upon realising who he is. He was as still as a statue and only the sound of his breathing told him that the old man was alive, amusingly enough Tazuna's eyes were so wide that they looked as if they were about to bulge out of their sockets. He gazed at the men behind Tazuna and saw they were in a similar condition.

The bulgy eyes and the gaping mouth. It was amusing.

There was an awkward silence between the two groups. Who knew they would react like this? "I think it's safe to say he found out who I am." Naruto stated with a sigh, as he shifted his M-14 so it was resting on his shoulder.

"Hold on a minute. Naruto, if he knows who you are and that you are a hero of this place would that mean he'll let us in?"

"I'm not sure Tank. A lot of things can change in three years. Hero or not, I don't think he'll just let us waltz on in willy-nilly."

It was by this time that Tazuna snapped out of his shock just in time to hear what Naruto said. "You would be right on that part. However, I can let you five in the land of waves if and only if you promise to help us with our undead problem."

"Well..." Naruto trailed off as he slowly turned to stare at Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha to gauge their reactions to the offer. They seem indifferent to the offer given to them. But Naruto knew better. Being with them for three years he learnt a thing or two about their reactions.

The slight twitch in the eye from Dempsey told Naruto he was mildly irritated at the offer; take the job being offered or they can fuck off. It was obvious what Dempsey was going to choose.

Takeo was the most calm. His face held a look of indifferent. However the drumming of fingers on the hilt of the katana hanging from his belt showed how displeased he was. The fingers were tapping against the hilt rapidly and the noise emitting from the finger movement was loud enough for Takeo to convey his annoyance, even if no one else could not pick up on it.

Nikolai...well...he was completely hammered from the vodka. So he wasn't paying attention. Samantha had a sickeningly sweet smile as she stared at Tazuna. Naruto would have freaked out at the dangerous glint in her eyes. Seeing their reactions Naruto internally nodded to himself. Knowing what he had to do...

"Sure! Point us in the direction they're at?" The blonde asked cheerfully as he pointedly ignored the scathing glares he was given from his companions.

Tazuna let out a relieved sigh and as he turned around, he gestured the group to follow him as he walked towards the Wave Village with his guards following. As the group made their way back Tazuna began to tell them everything they needed to know.

"The dead have been attacking the village every night for the past week. As far as we know, the undead always come out of the tree line to the north. No one ventured into the woods because we are stretched too thin as it is and need all able men and women to help defend the village." Tazuna sighed in exhaustion and ran a hand through his hair. "We were lucky enough to have suffered no casualties so far since the attacks begun. We made spiked barricades to help defend the village from the onslaught. It's been effective so far but I know it is only a matter of time before they break through."

"Do you know what types these zombies are?" Naruto asked the elderly man.

Tazuna looked over his shoulder questionably at Naruto. "Types?"

"Yeah there are several types of zombies. The first type are walkers. You usually see them stumbling or limping around with their arms outstretched in front of them. They are the most common you'll encounter. The second type are runners. These are zombies that run instead of walking. The third type are the sprinters; they're just like runners, but are much faster and can easily catch up to you in a matter of seconds." Naruto paused a moment to catch his breath and to see if Tazuna was following word for word.

Seeing that he was Naruto continued. "The fourth zombie type are undead animals such as dogs and monkeys. These zombies are usually as tall as a pre-teen, perhaps even taller and some have a special ability that makes them unique to the others. An example would be being able to teleport a few yards in front of you. The fifth zombie types are are able to use a single element such as fire or wind. Everyone in the group I'm with apart from Samantha has encountered two zombies who are part of the fifth type. They were able to use fire and wind against us. The first one, the pyro zombie, was able to burn anything it touches and would explode whenever we got close to it. What was worse was that it is impervious to damage-"

"They were tough bastards too. We _had_ to get close to it in order to get rid of the fucking things." Dempsey interrupted bitterly as he emphasised the word 'had'.

"Yeah. We had to get close to it so it would fucking explode. Don't get me started on the wind user. That fucker could use wind to disorientate and blind us with just a wave of its hand. Not to mention the fucker was fast moving." Naruto and everyone in the group nodded in complete agreement to Nikolai's words.

"And then there's the last type; super zombies." Naruto spat the word out like acid. "These ass holes are the worst sort of zombies you can encounter. Not only are they inhumanely strong, they are almost impervious to damage, have unlimited stamina and are able to do feats that _should not be possible_."

With every sentence spoken Tazuna and the men following him began to pale slowly with each zombie type being revealed.

Never in all his years did he think there are six different type of zombies. All of them much deadly than the last. And from what Naruto revealed they've been dealing with the first and second types. The third and over are the only ones they haven't faced against, and from what Naruto says they are in a whole another league.

"So which type of zombies are you up against here?" Naruto questioned.

"The first and second. We haven't encountered the third and above, thankfully."

Naruto nodded at that and shared a look with his group who were staring at him with grim but determined looks. While they are not happy about being dragged in to this dilemma without being asked first, they knew the situation had to be resolved. It might as well be the ones who are properly equipped to deal with them to resolve the attacks.

"So we got walkers and runners attacking your village every night from the tree line to the North. You had no casualties since the attacks so far, and you've held the walking dead back for the past seven days. You've done well in keeping your village up and running."

Tazuna inclined his head at the complement given to him. "Keeping order was difficult. During the first day people have panicked; but we kept order once we gave them a choice: Defend or die." The group frowned but nodded in understanding. "As you now know the entire Elemental Nations have been under constant attack for three years. With the Hidden Villages stretching themselves thin with keeping the dead in check and overrunning their countries we have been unable to request aid."

"And since you've been fighting the zombies for an entire week you were unable to send people out to get help. Because everyone has been trying to keep the barricades up and making sure they have enough food and water to last." Dempsey said in revelation.

When Tazuna nodded in confirmation the group of zombie slayers could not help but shake their heads in disapproval. It was rather stupid to not try and send someone out to get help from these so called 'Hidden Villages', which were not really hidden if they are found so easily. But with the mainland in the same crisis it would not have been a good idea.

Although the group did find it strange that the zombies had lasted this long if the military force of this dimension is able to pull off god-like shit out of their ass as if it were an every day thing.

"While we have done a good job keeping the dead at bay, the smart thing would have been going to the mainland and get help. But with the Elemental Nations under the same crisis as we are, there was a good chance anyone we would send out would get attacked by the walking dead before they would reach the nearest Hidden Village." Tazuna said grimly. "Plus, the dead seem to be getting smarter with every encounter and adapt accordingly to their experiences."

"Mother fucker! This is just like back at home!" Dempsey cursed.

"You all have been facing the same crisis as we are?" Tazuna asked in surprise.

"Yeah, been fighting the walking dead ever since I can remember." Naruto replied a little bitterly. "Zombies were overrunning entire cities and countries at a rapid pace. We basically had to destroy everything in the end."

"'Ever since I can remember'? What do you mean by that?"

"The kid has amnesia." Dempsey revealed for Naruto's benefit. "The furthest he can remember is three years ago, and ever since he has been fighting zombies with us. The only reason all of us as a group are here, is because the kid recently remembered where he came from and wanted us to come with him."

Dempsey had wisely told the man the partial truth. Leaving out where Naruto along with Takeo, Nikolai and himself were experimented on by an organisation who wanted to win a war they had started and were the main cause of the zombie outbreak from where they came from. Who knows how they would react to that?

Tazuna nodded his head in understanding. Any questions he wanted to ask died in his mouth. He wanted to know why the kid never tried to make contact with Konoha; the answer provided by Dempsey had gave him that answer. Still the kid has people back home who miss him. Konoha had to know that one of their own is back and has amnesia.

X.X.X.X

As the group conversed time flew by and before they knew it, they were standing in the middle of the village. There are several spiked barricades with rotten corpses of the dead impaled on them in the streets. The doors and windows have been boarded up to keep the civilians safe. As for the civilians themselves, they were either carrying makeshift weapons like knives and cleavers or real weaponry like katana's and crossbows as protection from the zombies.

The citizens who had crossbows were on the rooftops acting as lookouts.

The group consisting Naruto, Tank, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha were looking cautiously around. The only ones outside were all adults, or teenagers who are well in their way in to adulthood. There are no children in sight whatsoever and while concerning they pushed it to the back of their heads.

It wasn't something that was at all interesting. The most likely explanation is they are more likely to be inside the safety of buildings, rather than outside where the danger is.

As they walked through the village everyone pretty much stopped what they were doing and stared as if they had seen a ghost.

Naruto to his credit ignored the staring and whispering in the background, though he was tempted to fire his M-16 in the sky just to make them shut up he resisted the urge. Such an action would bring repercussions on the group as a whole, as it would bring attention on them quicker than it is needed.

Not to mention it would be a needless waste of ammo.

Eventually the group of five were led through a spiked barricade that was littered with dried blood and rotten decaying corpses, that was currently being yanked off and taken to a large pile of corpses that is nearby waiting to be burnt, and were brought before the treelike on the outskirts of the village where the zombies would emerge every single night for the past week.

"So this is where the unholy demons appear every night?" Takeo asked staring at the tree line with suspicion. Tazuna nodded once and the Imperial Army Samurai grunted as he shouldered his Type 100 sub-machine gun. "Humph, then this is where we shall part ways for now."

Samantha narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she stared at the tree line. There was a presence out there. Something old and ancient that was rooted to the very earth. What she found unnerving about this is the fact she could tell it is watching them.

"Yeah, don't worry old man we'll be back before you know it." Naruto added in confidence as he gave the bridge builder an assured look complete with a thumbs up.

Tazuna nodded again and stared at the back of the group as they walked in and past the tree line. Waiting a few minutes to make sure they were out of ear shot, Tazuna suddenly turned to the man next to him a serious expression on his face.

"Get me a messenger bird and a sheet of paper. I need to send a message to Konohagakure and inform them that a member of Kakashi's team is alive."

X.X.X.X

"How much you want to bet whatever the situation here is, is a lot more complicated than it looks?" Naruto suddenly asked aloud a few minutes after they breached the tree line.

"Pretty much like everything else we do?" Nikolai asked.

"Nah, not everything we do is complicated." Dempsey replied in dismissal.

"Oh really?" Naruto said, giving Dempsey a raised brow. "Then let me give you a few examples." He raised his forefinger. "Ascension where we had to do a very complicated puzzle in order to rescue a mysterious voice from Samantha-"

"Hey!" Said girl cried out indignity.

"Then there is Shangri-la; where we had to go into the past to rescue two people from being killed by zombies repeatingly." Naruto added as if he weren't interrupted by Samantha's outcry, while putting up his middle finger to tick it off. "And then there was the moon-" He paused and gave Dempsey a pointed stare. "-do I need to remind you what happened back there?"

"No. No you don't." Dempsey replied with a light scowl. The moon was still a sore subject for the group. Fucking Richtofen for tricking them. Fucking Maxis for getting them to blow up the Earth...

"Sooo..." Nikolai drawled out. "...in other words...everything we do...we make worse?"

Naruto shook his head negatively. "Not exactly. We did do some good in the places we've been to, and we did what we could. It's just the four of us were played for fools all along by Richtofen, who made us believe Samantha was the enemy when in actually was him all along, and we never knew until it was too late."

Samantha as she listened to them became depressed and angry at herself for trying to kill the other four. Naruto particularly who has been nothing but kind to her ever since she and Richtofen had switched bodies. While Naruto, Nikolai, Takeo, Dempsey and Richtofen were fighting her armies in multiple locations she had come to learn, she could have contacted them at any time by electronic devices. But she didn't. She did not try to warn them that Richtofen is the cause for all the problems they've faced since the zombie outbreak.

She could have told them that Edward Richtofen is the real enemy not her and that she was trying to kill him. She could have told them that Richtofen was just using them to fulfil his own ends. She could have told them but she never did.

Naruto sensing the depressing aura around Samantha put a comforting hand on her shoulder, getting her to turn and look at him. He smiled reassuringly at her, his way of telling her that he did not blame her for what had happened. Samantha seeing the reassuring smile the whisker faced blonde was giving her returned it.

Takeo scowled bitterly at the grim reminder and clenched his fist tightly. He looked down at his katana and wondered if he should commit seppuku for the atrocity he had had helped commit against humanity? He would regain the honour he had lost once he did, but, was it the right thing to do?

As if to answer this question the former Imperial officer turned his eyes to Naruto, thinking of everything they went through together and how they had helped one another during the undead crisis, and how close he and the young teen had become. Naruto wouldn't want him to commit suicide. In fact if he knew the blonde, he would, dare he say it, smack him across the back of the head for thinking of doing such a thing.

Protecting one another. Helping one another. Watching each others backs, coming to aid one another when they are in a tight spot and trying to save the world... Yes. Now that the samurai thought about it he still had honour left in him. That alone will be enough to keep him from commiting seppuku.

A short while later the group of six came to a scene that put them all on guard. For almost two yards the earths soil was dead. The trees surrounding the soil was dying too, the leaves are a rotten brown and the treebarks are a twisted sick parody of its former self. The soil was also upturned looking as if someone or something was either digging down or trying to get out.

Samantha shook her head she felt the presence from before once again. This time however the presence was closer to them. Narrowing her eyes in suspicion she suddenly started walking forward, ignoring the others calling for her, and stood in the epicentre of the rotten ground. Closing her eyes in concentration Samantha got down on one knee and set her MP40 on the ground beside her.

"What the hell is she doin'?" Dempsey asked himself aloud with astonishment in his voice as Samantha began to look like she was about to prey.

"I am not to sure." Naruto replied slowly with his eyes narrowed. "It's like she's preying or something...?" He trailed off questioningly.

"Perhaps the child is contacting the spirits of this place? To know where our enemies lie?" Takeo suggested as he surveyed their surroundings cautiously.

"Possibly." Naruto began contemplatively. "Samantha is technically a spirit, so maybe she can contact with people who are on the other side?"

Dempsey stroked his chin as he stared at the kneeling girl with interest. "Uh-huh, if that is the case, then we may know just what is going down quicker than we first thought."

Everyone nodded in agreement to Dempsey's words. Since Samantha has supernatural powers, she is able to do things that normal people are unable to do. With the execption of Samantha herself, Naruto is the only unnormal person in the entire group as he is able to do supernatural things too. Even though he can't remember much of his abilities.

A comfortable silence settled among the group as they watched Samantha do her thing. Only for it to be suddenly broken by Nikolai who just remembered the lack of reaction old man Tazuna had when he saw their weapons.

"Hey... I just remembered something odd..." When everyone turned to look at him questioningly, they gestured him to continue, so he did. "That fucking old man...he had serious lack of reaction to our guns. For something so advanced in his eyes, he should have been more 'interested' in knowing what our guns can do."

Everyone narrowed their eyes, realising Nikolai was right. Tazuna did have a serious lack in surprise and interest in their guns. Considering how technically underdeveloped this dimension is, they'd have thought everyone would have been more interested in their technology and what they can do.

But instead they weren't.

"Very odd indeed." Takeo said with narrowed eyes.

Dempsey slowly nodded and said. "Yeah... If I were in his place I would've been more aware of something I had never seen before. I would have been curious to know what it was too."

"Perhaps he had seen something like it before?" Nikolai suggested reasonably.

"Probable. But not likely." Naruto answered in response as he scratched the side of his neck to get rid of an itch that was beginning to annoy him."If there are guns in this dimension they would have in terms of the weaponry we use, obsolete flintlock pistols, muskets and blunderbusses; or something similiar to them."

"But with the chakra they use to fight..." Dempsey began, before he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance upon realising just how screwed these people are.

You have to understand; since these people have been using chakra against the zombies in. Every. Single. Encounter. The undead have quickly adapted to their method of attacks and now their chakra is almost ineffective against them.

With six different types of zombies, chakra would still likely be effective against the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th types for a while before they adapt themselves to avoid and dodge those attacks. The 5th and 6th zombie types would likely be close to immunity to chakra oriented attacks.

Talk about severely fucking themselves over.

"The undead was able to adapt to their method of attacks with each encounter." Naruto finished with a grim look.

"They've become so dependable on this energy of theirs they won't be as effective without it." The former marine scoffed in disgust. "I won't be surprised that once they find themselves unable to use their energy, they'd find themselves as weak as a child."

As the group quietly talked among themselves Samantha had discovered what the presense she sensed before is.

She learnt the presense is in actually an ancient spirit who was awoken from its slumber when someone from the village they had come from took something that did not belong to them. An image of a teenage boy, wearing a dark grey sleeveless v-neck shirt, dark pants and a pair of sandals flashed in her mind, showing her who the perpetrator is.

The spirit then sent Samantha an image of the stolen object in question; it is an elemental staff that is capable of unleashing balls of molten rock. Strangely enough Samantha thought she had seen someone who looked like a younger version of Takeo Masaki wielding the elemental staff, and was in a war torn battlefield with trenches and bodies impaled on spikes in the background.

The next image sent to her had the boy shown to her previously holding the staff in his hands before taking it away from its resting place. In retaliation the spirit raised a small army of the walking dead and sent them to the village she and the others had came from with the intent on taking back the elemental staff that was stolen from its resting place.

Opening her eyes and knowing the true reasion behind the attacks, Samantha grabbed her MP-40 submachine gun off the ground, stood up and turned to face the others and walked to them.

"Did you get anything useful out of whatever you were doing over there?"

Samantha stared Dempsey unflinchingly in the eyes and said, "Yes, and I now know the true reason behind these attacks."

The others were taken aback at the belief in her voice. However their surprise at her conviciton did not stem the unconvinced looks she was being given. Naruto on the other hand knew something was up and knowing Samantha is able to see things that they are unable to because of her 'condition' he gave her a chance.

"What did you see?" The whisker face blonde asked.

Samantha told them everything she had seen. She told them about the spirit that was in the area. She told them about the elemental staff and the boy who stole it from its resting place. She told them of the mental image of a younger version of Takeo Masaki, using the elemental staff in the midst of a wartorn battlefield that had trenches and corpses impaled on spikes. Then she told them the reason behind the attacks so far.

"So let me recap on what we've all learnt so far; we got an ancient spirit who got robbed. An elemental staff that fires balls of molten lava. A teenage boy that took the elemental staff from its resting place and now the spirit is pissed and raised the dead in an attempt to take back the staff." Dempsey said, raising a finger to mark off everything they had learnt so far. "Anything we miss?"

"What about the guy who looks like a younger version of Takeo using the elemental staff?" Naruto pointed out.

Dempsey snapped his fingers in remembrance. "Oh, yeah, that as well."

Samantha shook her head negatively. "Nien. Zhat is everything."

"The child-thief has unleashed an army of fallen warriors upon his home." The samurai, a veteran of two World Wars, said in a disgusted tone as his lips pulled back in a nasty scowl. "He has brought shame and dishonour upon himself and his family!"

"The thief is only a kid!" Naruto fiercely said in the childs defense. "We don't know the reason behind the thieving. So before we make any judgement, we get some answers. Then we judge him upon with what we've learnt being the catalyst."

While reluctant Takeo had to concede to Naruto. The young blonde had a point after all; not only do they not know the whole story, they can't judge someone when they only had one perspective. But that never stopped anyone from judging people since the beginning of time.

Knowing what they had to do Dempsey layed out their choices; they either had to take back the elemental staff and bring it to its resting place, or, ignore the spirits request to bring it back' and try to stop the zombies right there.

"I don't know about you but I say we go find staff of element." Nikolai slurred out his suggestion. He hicupped and added, "I have enough of zombies for one lifetime, so, let us do first choice."

"I agree with the Russian. For once I'd like to not fight any zombies while trying to complete an objective." Dempsey said with his head nodding in agreement to the Soviet's words.

"I'm all for not re-killing zombies. Lets get the staff back." Naruto supported.

Dempsey nodded in satisfaction seeing everyone in the group wanted to avoid re-killing the undead. The former marine shouldered his M-14 assault rifle and said, "It's settled then; we go look for the staff back in the Wave village and bring it back here?"

"And we have until sun goes down before another attack comes." Nikolai reminded them helpfully as they turned and went back in the direction they came from. Since they were on the clock the group of five were running back to the village.

They kept their guard up along the way though; just in case the spirit Samantha discovered decides to pull a fast one on them.

As they ran Takeo left some parting words that spoke of what would happen if they don't get the elemental staff back in time. "The light keeps the dead at bay. Once it leaves, the fallen, will rise once more amongst the living."

Naruto and the others nod their heads in agreement, and Naruto concluded by saying; "Once the zombies are back, we'll have no choice but to fight. So lets get this done before it comes to that!"

The group made it back to the Wave village in record time and stopped to regain their breath just out of the barricade. Because they were running for most of the way three of them were out of breath. Naruto and Samantha being a former ninja and a spirit were in better condition; they were panting but not completely out of breath like their companions. The villagers standing guard over their village were surprised at their quick reappearane.

"Did you find a way to stop the dead?" One of the villagers asked in a hopeful voice.

"We _may_ have found a way. But we need to see old man Tazuna to tell him the situation first." Naruto answered for everyone else, seeing as they – excluding Samantha – were out of breath.

Another villager directed the way to Tazuna's house, and gave them a description of the house and told them it is near the Great Naruto Bridge and they couldn't miss it. They had to look out for a two floor house, with a windmill in front of it, that sat on stilts over the water.

...Basically like nearly every other house in the village.

Still it couldn't be that difficult to find a single house near a bridge that was named after him could it? It turns out it wasn't.

When the man told them Tazuna's house was near the bridge they didn't think that the house was literally a yard away from it. And unlike the other houses that were on land, the houses here were held up by wood platforms and stilts. Another thing they realised the houses that were built on land they look new as if they were recently built. The ones that are on top of water, those ones look more worn and aged but are still in good living condition.

Plus the man they were looking for was outside of the house. And there was a pigeon that with a message tied to its leg standing on his arm. As they approached him the pigeon leapt off of Tazuna's arm and flew off in the distance. Towards the mainland.

Hearing footsteps Tazuna turned and was surprised to see Naruto and his companions back in the village so quickly. "Did you resolve our undead situation?" The former bridge builder asked, trying not to sound to hopeful.

The group negatively shook their heads causing Tazuna to sigh in disappointment. "Oh. Well, if you haven't taken care of our problem then maybe you've found something that had caused it?"

"Well..." Naruto began almost hesitantly. "...we have in a sense. Samantha here is able to see things that others cannot." He explained as he gestured to the girl in question. "When we found the origins of the zombies, she had a vision of a teenage boy holding a staff of somekind and took it from its resting place. The five of us believe that this teenager is the reasion behind the attacks your village has suffered, and, if we return the staff that was taken from its resting place, the undead will stop attacking."

Tazuna narrowed his eyes in thought. Now that he thought about it his grandson was acting a little strange the day before the attacks happened and he was carrying something wrapped up that was twice his size up into his room. But just to be sure... "What did the teenage boy look like?"

It was Samantha who answered seeing as she was the one who saw what he looked like. "He vas vearing a dark grey sleeveless v-neck shirt, dark pants and a pair of sandals."

Closing his eyes Tazuna exhaled triedly knowing from the basic description he was given that they were looking for his grandson Inari. "From that basic description you have given me, it looks like you're looking for my grandson Inari." He told them.

The former bridge builder then gestured the group to follow him as he turned and walked in his house. The zombie slayers shared a look with one another before following Tazuna inside.

"What makes you think we are looking for grandson?" Nikolai asked as he and the others followed Tazuna into the frontroom where the former bridge builder sat on a couch.

"A few things actually; Inari was acting a little strange a day before the attacks. Plus on that same day I saw him carrying something wrapped up that was twice his size up into his room. It looked like a seven foot pole with the top end looking wider than the rest. Plus when I asked him what it was he would act secretively and be evasive." He revealed to them as the group either sat down on the couch or on the floor itself.

"Has the child revealed the location of the device to you at all?" Takeo asked stoically.

His stoicism was good at hiding what he truely felt about the situation. They first had to find a staff; now to find that staff they have to look for a teenage boy who had hidden the staff somewhere. If they find out that Inari had moved the staff and they had to find the kid in order to know where he put it; then fuck this he was going to murder people.

Tazuna negatively shook his head and scratched the back of his head as he leaned back on the couch. "No he has not. However there is a chance he kept it in his room. He hardly takes anything out of there so there is a good chance it may still be up there collecting dust."

Dempsey aburptly sat up. "What are we waiting for? Christmas? Let's get up there!" He exclaimed, and everyone in the room got to their feet.

"Right. Follow me and I'll take you to his room." Tazuna instructed as he coughed into his hand. The others followed the elder upstairs where he took them to his grandsons room. The group stopped outside of the doorway. "Well, here it is. Do you know what you're looking for?" He asked as he turned to the group.

The group nodded and Tazuna stepped aside sighing through his nose. Hoping beyond hope that the staff they need to find is in Inari's room. Because if it isn't, then they are going to have problems. As Naruto and the others walked into Inari's room Tazuna went back downstairs to get a bottle of sake.

Meanwhile in Inari's room the group of zombie slayers slung their weapons over their shoulders. thanks to the sling that is connected to their respective weapons. Then Naruto, Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha got to searching the room thoroughly for the elemental staff. Tazuna had said Inari carried something up to his room so bearing that in mind there is a good chance the kid may not have moved it since the attacks begun.

A few minutes is all it took them to find what they were looking for. With a triumpant yell Nikolai pulled a wrapped up object out from beneath Inari's bed and set it flat in the middle of the room. It had the description that Tazuna gave them; a seven foot pole with the top being wider than the rest. Underneath your bed is not an ideal hiding place for things but it worked out for them.

Taking off the cloth the elemental staff was revealed to them. Everyone arched their eyes in awe. It was something that not even they were expecting. They were expecting a staff that was made out of wood, and had a magistical feel to it. Instead the elemental staff was mechanical and very futuristic in its appearance.

"Holy shit." Naruto breathed out in awe. "THAT'S the elemental staff you were talking about Samantha?"

Samantha merely nodded in response. She too was in awe at the sight. Seeing it in your memories was one thing, but to see it up close was a different experience. Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey however felt there was something very deja vu-ish about the mechanical looking staff.

"American, Russian," Takeo suddenly said, prompting Nikolai and Tank to stare at the Asian with questioning looks. "Do you two feel...something familiar about this staff?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the staff.

Dempsey slowly nodded and looked down at the elemental staff with a contemplative look. "Yeah...I think I saw this staff before. I can't place where I had seen it though."

"Now that you mention it, I had seen this shortly after I was exiled from the Motherland." Nikolai told them. "That was almost 30 or so years ago in France I think?" He finished looking and sounding a little unsure.

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously. All three of them had seen the elemental staff before. Nikolai mentioned he saw it in France shortly after he was exiled from his home 30 years ago. Samantha said the spirit implanted an image of a man who looked like a younger version of Takeo wielding the staff they were looking at right now.

"You three say you saw this thing before. Samantha said she saw a man who is a _younger _version of Takeo using the staff. Nikolai says he saw the staff in France 30 years ago. You know what I think? I think, that the staff came from your dimension and ended up here somehow."

"How'd you figure that?" Dempsey asked Naruto as he and the others stared at the younger blonde with a questioning look.

"Call it a hunch. But if you think about it, it makes sense." Naruto replied. The blonde got to his feet and added. "Now, we'd better get this back before night falls. I'd rather not face another horde of seemingly endless zombies thank you very much."

The group nodded in agreement and stood up as well, with Takeo taking the elemetal staff and made their way out of Inari's room and back downstairs. They went without fighting any zombies at all up until now and they'd rather they keep it that way for a little longer.


	3. Chapter 2

Dead Rising

Chapter 2

_Dempsey stared at the blonde haired kid sitting in the corner just a little ways away from himself, Takeo and Nikolai. He frowned a little worryingly as he saw the kid glancing rapidly throughout the room. He looked vulnerable and scared, the way he sat there hugging his legs to him._

_While he didn't care much for the Russian or the Tojo even he was surprised to see them take an interest in their new resident. The Russian, Nikolai Belinski was his name? He was staring at the blonde with genuine concern, something else that took him by surprise since the Russian didn't seem to care much about anything. _

_Hell even the Asian, Takeo Masaki, was giving the kid a worried glance every once in a while. And he was as stoic as a brick wall!_

_Since he was the closest to the kid Dempsey decided to go and move toward the kid and talk to him. He always did have a soft spot for kids. Didn't know or remember why he did though. He just does. When the kid quickly brought his eyes to him when he started to move, the boy's bright blue eyes began to widen in panic and he frantically began to push himself away. _

_Stopping Dempsey slowly raise his hands to placate the kid. To show that he wasn't going to hurt him and he was a friend. It seemed to work when the boy stopped and stared at him. Contemplatively. Like he were looking for any sign of a lie. _

_Dempsey with his hands still raised in a calm manner slowly sat down as well as he could without using his hands. He grunted a little in pain when he sat on his backside rather roughly prompting the blonde haired, blue eyed boy to try and stifle a laugh with the sleeve of his bright orange jacket._

_Chuckling aloud Dempsey both asked and offered with a warm smile. "So what's your name kiddo? If you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine?" He always had a soft spot for children. They always bring out the nice side of himself, no matter who they are, and this child was no different._

_The blonde haired kid blinked and stared in surprise. After a moment of silence the kid coughed and replied. "Naruto... My name is Naruto Uzumaki." The boy answered softly. _

_Dempsey arched an eyebrow. The kid has surprisingly good English and spoke in an accent similar to Takeo's. But in comparison to Takeo Naruto's accent was much clearer and easier to understand._

_The marine smiled and offered his hand. "Well, Naruto, I am Tank. Tank Dempsey. Pleased to meet you." _

_It only took a moment but Dempsey saw the look of uncertainty in Naruto's eyes. But after a moment of being left hanging Naruto finally took the offered hand and shook him, prompting the marine to smile even wider which caused Naruto the smile too. _

"_I am...pleased to meet you as well Tank." There was a hesitant pause. "Can... Can we be friends?"_

_Dempsey nodded is eyes softening at how vulnerable the boy sounded. "Sure." He said to him, still shaking Naruto's hand. "We can be friends."_

_What he got in return was a wide thankful smile and a hug._

X.X.X.X

When Tazuna saw the group coming down from Inari's room, he put the sake he was drinking on the table in front of him and got up from the couch and made his way to them. He stopped in mid stride and went wide eyed when he lay his eyes on the mechanical and futuristic looking staff in Takeo's hands.

"What the HELL is that thing?!" The former bridge builder asked while pointing at the elemental staff with a look of astonishment.

"That 'thing' old man is what we came here for. Never thought I'd see something like that in my lifetime though." Naruto answered before he stared at the staff admiringly. How could he not admire it? It is made entirely out of metal, AND it is futuristic in appearance.

"The staff? That thing in his hands is the staff?" Tazuna asked with growing disbelief. This was not something he imaged the staff to be. He thought it was going to be an ancient looking wooden stick, not the mechanical monstrosity in front of him!

"Why so surprised? You've seen the type of weapons we carry and didn't show much of a reaction. Why are you looking so surprised to see something like this?" Dempsey asked gesturing to the elemental staff in question.

Tazuna closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Exhaling through his nose he opened his eyelids and stared at the group and said in the calmest tone he could muster. "The reason I didn't show much of a reaction to your weapons, is because I saw similar ones being taken to the Hidden Leaf Village from the Land of Spring."

Takeo, Dempsey, Samantha and Naruto turned to stare half-heartedly at Nikolai. Him mentioning that Tazuna saw weapons similar to theirs was actually right. With a slight frown pulling at his face Nikolai shrugged his shoulders as if to say "You win some you lose some".

The group quickly brought their focus back to Tazuna when he continued. "As for why I was so surprised to see that staff. Well...look at it! It's monstrous looking!" He exclaimed in a wild gesture.

"You know, you are living with people who can blow fire out of their mouths like it's an everyday thing." Dempsey replied pointedly. "So are you really surprised to see something like that?"

Tazuna opened his mouth to reply but quickly closed it again when he realised that the man was right. He was living among with people who can do god like abilities. He saw it for himself three years ago when Naruto was still a loud mouthed brat. So really, he shouldn't be surprised at seeing something like the staff in Takeo's hands.

Tazuna sighed and stroked his beard. "Truth be told I shouldn't be. I live in a world where children are being taught to kill. Where people are now dying every single day thanks to these walking dead..." He trailed off and looked out of a nearby window. Seeing the sky beginning to change to an orange colour the tall tale sign of the sun going down the former bridge builder let out another sigh and brought his attention back to the group. "You all better get moving. It won't be long until the sun goes down again and the dead come back." He said to them as a reminder, gesturing to the window to show them that the sun was indeed beginning to go down.

Following his gesture the group of five became alarmed when they saw that the sun was beginning to settle. Cursing loudly Dempsey quickly beckoned the others to follow him and quickly made his way to the front door. The others quickly followed him, with Naruto giving Tazuna a thankful nod for allowing them to search through his grandsons room as he passed by.

"This is just fucking great. We have less time to get this done." The former marine complained in irritation as he opened the door and made his way back outside with the others.

"What makes you say that?" Tazuna asked, who was now standing behind the doorway to his house. This made everyone turn around and stare at him as if he were an idiot. "What?" He asked, looking a little confused at the looks they were giving him.

Naruto let out a sigh of irritation and said in a rapid, yet, clear pace. "Let me explain it this way for you: this staff is the cause of the mess your village found itself in. Which if you remember your grandson took. To stop this from happening continuously we need to bring the staff back to the place it was taken from. If we do that not only will the dead stop attacking you but they'll leave you alone."

"Not to be a spoil sport, but if ve stay here zhen ve vill have less time to return zhis staff to its resting place." Samantha piped up with a single finger raised.

"You'd better listen to the girl!" Tazuna said. "The more time you spend here the less time you have to put that thing back!"

Unknowingly to Tazuna the moment he said that Naruto suddenly had the urge to throttle the man. Since he was the whole reason they weren't moving yet. I mean really, they waste time trying to explain to the man what would happen if they don't get there in time. And he goes and asks even more questions that ends up wasting even more time.

Cracking his neck with a mildly irritated look on his face Naruto took a deep breath, closed his eyes, turned around and walked off in the direction they took earlier. The others quickly followed and when they were out of ear shot Nikolai said; "I think he was drinking. I know when someone was drinking."

"Because you drink too Nikolai?" Samantha asked.

"Da! A drunk knows when someone else is drinking! Is instinct." The Soviet exclaimed pounding his fist against his chest proudly.

"Makes sense I suppose. Drinking I mean." Naruto muttered with a twitching eyebrow. "He did seem a little more...well...stupider...than he did a few minutes ago. Not to mention there was a bottle of alcohol on the table in front of the couch he was on."

"No way, Naruto!?" The group stopped and turned to see a teenage boy that fit Inari's description standing there, staring at Naruto with disbelieving eyes. Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things he added shakingly; "They said you were back from the dead. I didn't believe them at first but..."

Naruto didn't know why but something was compelling him to talk to the kid. Pinching the bridge of his nose Naruto turned his head to look over his shoulder and told the others to go on ahead, and that he would catch up to them later.

"You sure?" Dempsey asked.

Naruto nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. You go and put the staff back. I'll catch up to you in about five minutes."

The older blonde nodded in response. "Ok. I'll see in you five. Let's move everyone; we have an appointment to keep." Barked the former marine. Takeo, Samantha and Nikolai nodded their heads and followed Tank as he led them to the outskirts of the village.

Now alone with a someone younger than himself – god that sounded wrong – Naruto rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Despite what people think and what he has done in the past, the present Naruto is inexperienced when it comes to talking to new people and comforting them. Let alone someone who is younger than yourself who looks like they're about to cry.

So facing the unknown Naruto did something he always did: he winged it.

Still rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly Naruto blew out of his mouth nervously. Suddenly he had an idea for a conversation starter. Even if it was pretty lame considering what has been happening for the past week. "So...I know this is going to sound pretty stupid; but how have you been?"

"...Apart from the constant attacks on the village for the past week? Fine." Inari replied lowly. He then stared up at Naruto imploringly; "Just where have you been for the past three years? Everyone here and back at the Hidden Leaf Village thought you were dead! And if you were alive all this time why didn't you try to send a message!?"

Naruto gave an amused snort to those questions/demands. He can easily answer them, with a little bit of a lie here and there. "'Where have I been for the past three years'? Well, in the order you asked: I was on an entirely different continent on the other side of the world, which is in the same situation here. So no one would have ever be able to find me. Two, I have amnesia and the furthest I can remember is literally three years ago. I only came back here because I recently remembered where I was born."

Inari blinked and gave Naruto a look over. "That explains why you're dressed so differently." Then the rest of what he said registered in his head and he stared at the whisker faced blonde with comically wide eyes. "Wait a minute; you have amnesia!? You've been fighting the dead on the other side of the world?!"

"Pretty much." Naruto confirmed with a small smile. Then as if a switch had been changed he stared down at Inari with a deep frown and hard eyes. The sudden mood shift had taken the younger of the two teens by surprise.

"So care to explain to me why you took a certain staff that did not belong to you?" Naruto firmly asked as he crossed his arms. The tone he was speaking in told Inari that Naruto was being serious.

"It was a dare?" Inari lamely replied. The look he had gotten from the blonde he admired told him that he did not believe him. "Yeah; I thought you wouldn't believe that..." He muttered with a sigh.

"You got that right." Naruto stated with a disappointed look. "You know, considering what you did you're very lucky this village hasn't suffered any deaths yet."

"What I- what do you mean 'What I did'?!"

Naruto was not surprised Inari did not know. The boy doesn't seem to be smart. Though that may be because Inari isn't a full grown adult yet and would therefore not act on his common sense.

I mean think about it: if there is a highly advanced mechanical staff just sitting there in the middle of nowhere. What would you do? Take it or leave it alone?

...Now that Naruto thought about it he would probably have taken it as well. It does look pretty cool.

"You don't know?" Seeing the genuine confusion and cluelessness on the boys face Naruto quickly looked around his surroundings to see if anyone was in the vicinity. Seeing there wasn't he leaned down to whisper in the boys year. "The zombies here are controlled by a spirit; a severely pissed off one at that. They're attacking the village because you took the staff from its resting place."

"How do you know that?"

"Remember the group I was with?" He received a curious nod from Inari. "Well the girl is special, because she can communicate with the dead. The spirit who you accidentally pissed off showed her what the staff looked like and you taking it. And we have until the sun does down to bring the staff back or the dead will come back to attack the village again. Do you understand?" He asked the young teenager patently.

Inari slowly nodded his head to show he did understand. Then he scrunched up his face in thought and looked towards the sky. They were talking for about 5 to 10 minutes and the sun was quickly going down. Which meant Naruto and his new team would have a few hours until the zombies came back from the dead once more.

Naruto seeing Inari look towards the sky followed his gaze and smiled faintly. Straightening himself back up Inari brought his focus back to the older teen when he pat him on the shoulder and found the whisker faced blonde looking down at him with a soft reassuring smile.

"I'm going to have to get going now. I have less time to reach the others and return the staff now than I had before."

"Will I see you again?" Inari asked with a pleading look.

Naruto looked away looking a little uncertain; but answered truthfully "With what my group and I are about to do? Probably not." Rolling his shoulders Naruto hefted the M-14 and began to walk off in the direction Samantha and the others took earlier. He kept on talking even as the distance between himself and Inari grew.

"The dead are difficult to defeat. Once they learn to adapt to your method of attacks they adapt to it. So the likely hood of us surviving is very slim." The distance between them was steadily growing bigger as Inari strained his ears to the brink. "The only thing we can do: adapt as they do. Only then can we survive."

With those parting words said Naruto sprint his way through the village, to the barricade that would take him outside of the village itself. All the while Inari stood there in the same spot pondering on Naruto's words, then he turned and made his way home.

The boy was worried about Naruto and his new comrades. But he had faith in that the hero of the Wave would pull on through in the end. He had given back his faith and strength in the village 3 years ago and he would use that faith and strength to help keep the village up in their vigilance for any more undead attacks.

If he did not have faith in Naruto and his new friends, then who would?

X.X.X.X

Several minutes later we find Naruto sprinting through the woods with his assault rifle in hand. The blonde was keeping a fast pace while expertly dodging and weaving his way through trees, branches, logs and shrubbery as he came across them. Never slowing down and never faltering.

As he ran the whisker faced blonde began to think; what would happen once they return the staff to its rightful place? Would they be instantly teleported to another location like the several dozen times before? Or would they be rewarded with something that can help them immensely in their fight against the overwhelming numbers of the undead?

Nevertheless whatever would come once this was over and done with is bound to be interesting. But he finds out that the 'reward' is them teleporting to another location that is already overrun with the undead then he will fucking call it.

It wasn't long that he ran across Tank Dempsey himself who was leaning up against a tree, fiddling with his M-16 while he waited for him to catch up. Seeing Naruto approaching Dempsey pushed off the tree trunk and said, "It looks like you took the scenic route, eh?"

Slowing to a walk so he and Tank could walk side by side Naruto slung his M-16 over his shoulder and shrugged while shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "Yeah, well, you know me Tank. I do love seeing the sights." He replied in a joking manner.

"Oh I know what you mean." Dempsey said in mock seriousness. "There is nothing like seeing the breathtaking scenes like Shangri-la."

Naruto even though he knew Tank was just messing around, he nodded in complete agreement. "Yeah. But then again, nothing else we've seen beats seeing the earth from the moon."

"Or seeing it blow up." Dempsey pointed out plaintively.

"Yeah there is that too." Naruto said mournfully. Seeing the planet blow up because of their actions was both breath taking and heart breaking to watch. "But who else apart from the five of us can say we watched the earth blow up?"

Dempsey was silent. The kid had him there. Takeo, Samantha, Nikolai, Naruto and himself are the only humans to have seen Earth blow up. While the planet wasn't destroyed – completely – it was shattered into multiple large fragments; so they were still able to return to Earth. The only problems they faced were the thousands of zombies that came as a result to the missiles hitting the planet.

The two spent their time walking in contemplative silence until they reached the clearing where the others are. Naruto blinked when he saw something that wasn't there before. The dying husk of a land that was there before, now had a pedestal that was of a similar design to the elemental staff right in the middle of it. Along with that there was a faint aura like glow surrounding the already dead land, the dying or the already dead trees and the pedestal itself, giving it a holy like aura you would often see on angels.

"That wasn't there before." Naruto said in a bland tone. Considering what he had seen already and what he had done to get this far, seeing something like this did not have the impact it should have had on him.

"It appeared before us vhen zhe elemental staff vas in close proximity." Samantha explained to him so he could catch up on what he had missed when he was absent. "I think ve need to put zhe staff on zhe base of zhe pedestal?"

Naruto nodded at Samantha's words and scratching the side of his face as he stared at the pedestal seriously. "It appeared out of nowhere?" At Samantha's nod Naruto nodded again and added, "If that's the case then we should do it. However, we need to prepare ourselves just in case something we don't expect happens."

"Like what comrade?" Nikolai asked.

The blue eyed teen sighed and palmed his forehead as he stared at Nikolai in disbelief. "Think about it everyone: what happened to us when we completed an objective after solving a tough puzzle or something similar?"

Takeo, Dempsey and Samantha were the ones to have gotten it moments after the words left Naruto's mouth. Nikolai still intoxicated by alcohol was unable to think properly.

"We get taken to another place that is overrun with zombies. And we get disarmed as well, so we're reduced to only using a pistol!" Dempsey answered with a deep scowl.

This revelation made Nikolai widen his eyes in realization too and his eyes then narrowed dangerously. There was no way a freaky spirit was going to take his PPSh-41 away from him!

"Yeah. Another possibility is that we may end up separated from one another." As the group conversed with one, Takeo was frowning as he stared down at the elemental staff in his hands. Scowling lightly he looked between the pedestal and the staff multiple times before he put on a look of determination.

Making his decision he wordlessly made his way to the pedestal staff in hand.

"Takeo?" Naruto called out questioningly upon seeing the samurai moving to the pedestal with a purpose.

The others stopped their conversation and as one looked at Takeo who was now standing in front of the pedestal and while they couldn't see it, the former Imperial Officer had a conflicted look as he looked between the staff and the pedestal. He was beginning to second guess his decision to put the staff on the flat top of the pedestal.

His instincts - which was rarely wrong - was telling him that something about this was off. But yet there was also something that was compelling him to put the staff on the pedestal.

"Takeo?" Naruto called out again uncertainly. The samurai turned to look over his shoulder and saw the concerned look on Naruto's face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I am alright" Takeo answered and brought his gaze back to the pedestal. "I am merely...conflicted."

Naruto shared a look with Dempsey, Nikolai and Samantha and brought his attention back to the former Imperial Officer. "Conflicted about what?"

"On what I should do."

Naruto scratched his left cheek in thought before sharing a meaningful look with the others. Gesturing to Takeo with a jerk of his head, Naruto moved to the samurai and stood by his side and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Put the staff on the pedestal Takeo. Whatever happens we'll be ready for it." Naruto said, and to emphasize his point he brought his assault rifle which was hanging from his shoulder to his front and raised it ready to fire at anything that would threaten them.

"The kid is right, Takeo. Go on and put that staff on the pedestal. We'll be ready for anything." Dempsey spoke up and like Naruto, he too was ready to pull the trigger on his assault rifle at anyone appearing threatening to them.

Knowing their shoddy luck, the second Takeo puts that staff in place, they will suddenly be attacked by zombies from all sides. And truth be told that was likely to happen to them anyway; even if this spirit watching them had no hostile intentions toward them or not.

Nodding at their support Takeo cautiously moved to place the staff upright on the pedestal. While he did this Naruto, Nikolai, Dempsey and Samantha quickly moved to make a defensive perimeter around Takeo. So if they were attacked they would be able to cover one another from all sides.

When Takeo put the elemental staff on the pedestal something happened. Something that took them by surprise, but happened so quick they were unable to react. The moment the staff was placed on the pedestal it began to sink in. While that happened the pedestal itself began to vibrate and glow brightly. The aura surrounding both the pedestal and staff and the environment around them had brightened so much that the group was forced to cover their eyes or risk themselves blindness.

The aura expanded outwards like a dome slowly arching past the trees. In the distance the villagers in the Land of Waves saw the aura of light and they all stared with their mouths agape in sheer awe at what they've seen at the light show. Moments later the dome exploded and a pillar of light shot towards the skies shocking the villagers from the suddenness of it. After what seemed like hours – which in reality was only a few seconds – the pillar of light slowly faded away and dispersed into air.

At the centre where the pillar of light originated Tank Dempsey, Takeo Masaki, Nikolai Belinski, Samantha Maxis and Naruto Uzumaki were nowhere to be found. The pedestal and the elemental staff were gone too. The dead earth and shrubbery that was there before was now filled with life as if the land there wasn't rotting away moments before.

By the time the villagers came to see what had happened they would find no evidence of Naruto or his group being there. To them it would be like they had just upped and vanished without warning. It would also be the last time that the Wave Village would be attacked by the undead on their soil.

X.X.X.X

One week later in Konohagakure no Sato, Tsunade Senju the Fifth and current Hokage was doing the thing that was the bane of all Kage's across the Elemental Nations: paperwork. For once however instead of the towering stacks of paper that usually finds its way on her desk, she is only signing a few of them which is less than she would normally receive during the week. And unlike the sheets of paper that is mostly filled with requests, these ones had contained information regarding the undead or any strange events that occurred that maybe related to the outbreak.

So far Tsunade and the other Kage know there are 6 different types of undead:

The walkers. The slow and stumbling zombies are generally easy to kill. Just stay away from them and bombard them with jutsu after jutsu from a distance. They don't appear to show any sign of intelligence and would take punishment after punishment with no concern for their body until they drop.

The runners. The faster and slightly smarter zombies. The runners appear to have some form of intelligence as they would often dodge the jutsus launched at them. When they're alone they are not a problem but when they are in groups they can prove to be a bit too much to handle for the genin.

The sprinters. A more deadly and faster version of runners. They're able to keep pace and catch up with ninja in all ranks. They usually appear in large groups and it is recommended that any ninja who encounter these type of zombies to engage them with extreme caution.

And then there are the animals. They are a special type of zombies that most people have difficulties with. The dogs from hell, upon seeing them appear in a ball of electricity for the first time, were thought to be summon animals. But when they started attacking the ninja and civilians, and ripping them to shreds in front of everyone that thought was quickly tossed aside. It wasn't long until they saw other zombified animals such as monkeys.

The element users. These zombies are able to use a single element such as fire and wind, and are immune to said element. Not to mention the fire user is impervious to damage and the wind user can blind and disorientate you with the element it uses. And the electric zombie literally not be touched or it would shock people, or absorb the electricity shinobi and kunoichi use against it like Ay found out when he tried to take on.

And then there is what the Kage have dubbed as the 'Super zombies'. Zombies who are literally almost impossible to kill and have freakishly inhuman strength, durability, unlimited stamina and speed.

Despite their differences they all have one thing in common: they slowly adapt to their every move with each encounter and they become more and more difficult to kill.

When the undead first appeared out of nowhere it was thought that Orochimaru was to blame for their existence. His crimes and conducting twisted experiment on the people he kidnapped was well known throughout the Elemental Nations and wasn't that far fetched to assume that he had something to do with it.

That assumption was thrown out of the proverbial window when it was discovered that Orochimaru himself was researching in how to permanently kill them with little success. While he was obsessed with immortality he knew what kind of threat the undead are to the living and was trying to come up with a solution to deal with them in a permanent manner.

During the early days of the zombie attacks, his research on the zombies he had managed to capture was invaluable to the alliance as the notes entailed on how to effectively kill them and detailed on what would happen if someone was bitten. In the early months of the zombie invasion, destroying the brain or severing the head from its shoulders were most effective in reducing their numbers.

It was also discovered by one of Orochimaru's experiments that if you were bitten by a zombie then there would be a 50/50 chance you would die within hours to several days. After that your body would reanimate almost instantaneously and would crave for living flesh while being reduced to your primal instincts.

After another meeting between the five Kage, Orochimaru was offered to join the alliance and help them in the fight against the undead. Orochimaru while reluctant had agreed to join the alliance out of self preservation.

What Tsunade was doing right now was reading a report concerning the event that had happened the week before. A strange energy, unlike anything they had seen before, appeared out of nowhere near Wave Country and then vanished as just as quick as it appeared. Then the very same energy appeared once more, only this time within Wave Country itself.

She sent a recon team there to see what the situation is. When the team she sent there to investigate arrived, it was revealed that in the previous week Wave Village was under attack by the undead for the past week. Then one day a group of five people appeared at the Great Naruto Bridge. On the day they arrived they somehow stopped the constant night attacks on the village before they mysteriously vanished in a blinding flash of light.

They later learned that these people had appeared just hours after the mysterious energy signature came out of nowhere, and mysteriously vanished when the second energy appeared in Wave Country.

When asked who these people were all they were told was that they came from across the seas and had contraptions on them that looked way more advanced than anything they had seen. They also gave a brief description on what the five looked like; saying they all had worn clothing that looked really out of place. They were never seen again after they mysteriously vanished.

Her attention was taken away when she heard someone tapping on the window behind her. Frowning the curvaceous woman turned in her chair to the window and arched a single eyebrow when she saw a bird with a message tied around its leg. Frowning a bit more Tsunade got up out of her chair went to the windowsill and opened the window. She untied the message from the birds foot and sitting back in her office chair, opened it with a furrowed brow.

As she read her expression slowly changed from being indifferent to shocked disbelief.

When she reached the end she slammed the letter on the desk and abruptly stood from her chair. "Shizune! Get in here!" The bodacious blonde bellowed frenziedly.

Not long after she yelled out to her assistant, a fairly pretty young woman with long straight shoulder-length black hair, dark eyes and carrying a piglet slammed open the office door and entered the room. She wore a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings that is held closed by a white obi.

The woman known as Shizune stared at her master with wide eyes and asked frantically. "What is it Tsunade!?"

Tsunade handed her the letter she received; Shizune took it and slowly read it. While confused at first after she read it, her head snapped up to stare at her master with wide, yet hopeful eyes. "It this accurate? Because if this is then..."

"It's the genuine thing Shizune." Tsunade replied, now that she regained her calmness and sat back down in her chair. "What is in that message matches to what we know of the 'Mysterious five' that appeared and vanished just a week ago in the Land of Waves. One of the five is described as a young, blue eyed blonde teenager in olive coloured trousers, black boots and a light green jacket. If _he_ is part of their group then his friends should know of it."

"Then I will send for them." Shizune asked before she turned to hurriedly make her way out of the office.

Tsunade nodded before she added as a last minute thought. "One more thing: get the Jonin's Kakashi, Asuma, Guy and Kurenai to come here too. They need to know – especially Kakashi - that the brat is alive and well."

Shizune nodded and went to call for the now defunct Team Kakashi – with Sakura as Tusande's apprentice and Sasuke betraying Konoha to go to Orochimaru for power and Naruto's presumed end at the Valley of the End, (his body was never found) Kakashi's team was no longer in service – along with Team Guy, Asuma and Kurenai.

Almost twenty minutes later all of the assembled people who were friends with Naruto, along with their teachers' were in the office standing at attention. Even Kakashi who was known to be a very laid back individual and to be a few hours late to every meeting was there on time.

Tsunade stared at the assembled ninja with a mastered blank expression, allowing none of the ninja assembled in front of her to know what she was thinking. Gazing between them the Hokage nodded to herself before starting off.

Tsunade put her arms on the desk and leaned forward with her fingers intertwined. "I have asked you all here regarding recent information coming from the Land of Waves about the people we have dubbed as 'The Mysterious Five' that has mysterious appeared and vanished a week ago."

Hearing that the assembled ninja straightened themselves. If they weren't paying attention to her before then they were now. The 'Mysterious Five' was as the name suggested a mystery to the ninja of Konohagakure. As the Hidden Village closest to Wave Country they were the only ones to have sent a reconnaissance team there to investigate.

Other Hidden Villages such as Kumogakure and Iwagakure have also felt the disturbance this mysterious energy had caused, but being far away they were unable to send aid to help them in their investigation. To keep their allies in the loop Tsunade sent information regarding the 'Mysterious Five' to them to let them know who they should look out for concerning this group.

Which wasn't much in the first place.

"What is this information you have received Lady Tsunade?" Sakura Haruno, Tsunade's second apprentice asked respectfully.

Tsunade took a moment to prepare herself for the outcry from her subordinates once she reveals the information to them. She knew how affected the brats friends were after he was presumed M.I.A during the Sasuke Retrieval mission and them re-classed to K.I.A once they never found his body.

"The information I received is about the 'Mysterious Five'." She began and inwardly smiled to herself when all the Jonin were staring at her intently now. "It came from Tazuna himself and regards the identity of at least one member of this group. The information on this person is accurate considering it matches to what we know already." She grabbed and held up the message in front of Kakashi. "I think you Kakashi should read the message considering it concerns someone you once knew."

Kakashi narrowed his one good eye in confusion. "Someone I once knew?" He murmured curiously as he read the note. Who did he know that is part of the Mysterious Five? Not one minute later halfway through reading the whole thing did Kakashi's lone eye widen to epic proportions. He shakingly tore his eye away from the letter and to Tsunade in a pleading manner.

Tsunade nodded in confirmation to the unasked question. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the outcry she was likely going to receive from this next bit. "Yes. Naruto Uzumaki is alive and is one of the members of the 'Mysterious Five'." She dropped the bomb on them.

The room was filled with shocked silence before it was broken with all of Naruto's friends talking loudly all at once. The Jonin while shocked were more reserved and held their tongue and waited for their Hokage to speak.

A few minutes of patently enduring the loud commotion Tsunade twitched and quickly and firmly held up a single hand in a 'Stop!' gesture with a no nonsense look on her face. "One at a time please! I can't hear what you are saying if you are all talking at once!" She admonished them.

Once she had gotten her subordinates she had picked the first one of her ninja to speak who stepped forward in a respectful manner Hinata Hyuga. While she was a timid girl who had a severe lack of self-confidence growing up, she had gained a lot of confidence fighting against the zombies along with her comrades.

Taking a deep breath Hinata Hyuga began to speak. "How can N-Naruto be alive? Lord Jiraiya said his name was marked off from the Toad Summoning Contract, which only happens when a summoner dies!"

Being a Clan heiress and being friends with Sakura who learned under not one but two people who also had a summoning contract, Hinata was able to learn the basics of what would happen to your contract if you died. Being marked off is the result.

Tsunade shrugged her shoulders helpessly. "Even I don't know that. Naruto's name was marked off the summoning scroll. I saw it myself. However I can assure you that the information is accurate. Tazuna says he talked to Uzumaki himself and even had the same facial features. The spiky blonde hair, the blue eyes, the whisker marks on both cheeks."

"I don't understand, if Naruto was alive all this time then why didn't he come back to us?" Sakura asked with narrowed eyes and mounting frustration. Her hands were clenched at her sides and the skin around her knuckles were turning white.

Kakashi put a hand on Sakura's shoulder to calm her down. "I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Isn't there Tsunade?"

"Yes there is Kakashi." The woman replied in confirmation. "From the letter it is said Naruto has amnesia. I don't know the severity of it. But..." Feeling her voice trembling she abruptly cut herself off to collect herself for a moment. Taking a deep breath she continued. "But from I have read, Tazuna says one of the 'Mysterious Five' explained that the furthest Naruto can remember is three years ago.

"Which is around when he went missing." Might Guy said, in a serious tone.

Tsunade nodded once more in confirmation. "It is safe to assume that Naruto does not remember any of us. From what Tazuna was told the only reason he came back to the Elemental Nations was because he recently remembered where he came from."

Asuma rubbed his bearded chin with a thoughtful frown. "If Naruto is part of the 'Mysterious Five' what I want to know is where did they meet? Where did the other four come from?"

Tsunade shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "That is something I want to know too. Tazuna described the other four as being 'foreigners'. And given what we already know of them it is safe to assume they do not come from the Elemental Nations. We would have known of them otherwise."

"Tazuna says they all had weapons similar to the kunai launchers. " Kakashi stated as he continued to read the letter with a furrowed brow. He had seen the kunai launchers in action when he and his team had taken a mission over to the Land of Snow, now known as the Land of Spring, three years ago before this whole zombie invasion began.

Not to mention Konohagakure had gotten several hundred of them over the years thanks to their alliance. "He also says they looked a lot more advanced and slim in appearance."

"Do we know where they are currently?" Kurenai asked.

Kakashi shook his head negatively. "Unfortunately, no. I was part of the team who were sent to gain information on the strange energy readings that appeared near Wave Country the week before. The 'Mysterious Five' appeared at the Great Naruto Bridge, shortly after the first burst of that unknown energy appeared. Then when the same kind of energy appeared again the five vanished not long after. They were never heard or seen since."

"So we know Naruto is alive but still don't know where he is." Kiba stated with crossed arms. Shaking his head Kiba looked at Tsunade and asked. "What are our orders lady Hokage?"

"For now we do nothing. Without knowing where Naruto is we won't be able to find him and bring him home." Tsunade said before glaring firmly at her subordinates when she saw all but Shikamaru and her Jonin were about to protest. "You may not like it and neither do I. But we cannot forget the fact that none of us has any idea on where Naruto is located. Until we get an idea of his whereabouts or a possible location then all our resources must be focused on the undead. Understand?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage." The assembled ninja said simultaneously.

"Good. You are all dismissed."

X.X.X.X

Naruto blinked and blinked some more at what he saw. Or more correctly the lack of visibility. He looked around and saw nothing not even his comrades. Just a blank white in every direction that seemed to go on forever.

"What- what is this place?" He asked.

"You're tellin' me kid. I can't see shit!" Came Dempsey's unexpected reply and caused Naruto to let out a surprised cry.

"This place is bad for eye sight for this Cossack. I see nothing but whiteness! ...Is Nikolai blinded!?" Loudly cried out Nikolai in despair.

"Nien. I do not think you are." Was Samantha's calm reply. "Strange... I should be able to see mein own hand and yet I cannot. Curious."

"Perhaps we are in a realm of some kind?" Takeo suggested.

Samantha made a thoughtful 'hmmm' sound and snapped her fingers in remembrance. "It is possible! If you all remember, ve vere blinded by a blinding flash of light vhen Takeo placed the Elemental Staff on zhe pedestal. Ve may have been taken somevhere!"

"Yeah that's possible, maybe we were teleported?" Naruto suggested. "I mean think about it, we completed a task and stopped the undead from attacking a village when we brought back the Elemental Staff; and then we were all blinded by a flash of light something we all know is related to teleportation."

To Naruto this seems to be the most logical explanation as to what happened to them. Not to mention this HAS happened to them several times already. But that still doesn't explain as to why they can't see anything.

The group was silent as they thought on Naruto's words and came to realise that the whisker faced blonde was right.

"...That seems perfectly logical." Dempsey said after a moment of silence. "It's odd that we're stuck in this blank looking place though. We usually get teleported to the next location almost instantaneously." He added as an afterthought.

Naruto let out a thoughtful sound prompting Takeo to ask, "What is it, Naruto?"

"Hmmm? Oh, nothing Takeo. Just thinking is all."

Dempsey arched an eyebrow at that. Whenever Naruto thinks it whatever he comes out with gives them a lot of sense of their current situation. "What about kiddo?" The former marine curiously asked.

"I'm just thinking about what Richtofen did." Hearing _that_ man's name had provoked aggressive growls from everyone in the odd realm.

"What do you mean what that dishonourable man did?" Takeo growled out viciously.

"Just bare with me for a moment everyone, please." Naruto pleadingly told them. After getting their acknowledgement Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and continued. "Takeo, Dempsey and Nikolai you all remember that Richtofen seemed to know where we were every time we got to a new location right?" Hearing their affirmative grunts Naruto added, "Richtofen, somehow, some way brought us to those locations on purpose. My guess is because we have no idea on what to do, we ended up in this godforsaken place until we find a way to get out of here."

The unknown dimension was filled with silence but Naruto knew they were all thinking on his theory. "That...is an interesting theory." Takeo finally said, breaking the silence that had been dominating the realm. "A most interesting theory. I would never thought that you would think of this Naruto."

"When you've spent your time watching and observing you pick up on a few things." Naruto honestly replied with a chuckle. "I didn't think of it back then because well I didn't think of anything suspicious of him at the time. Not until Shangri-la when he got that rock."

"So if this theory of yours is right, then what do we do to get out of here?" Dempsey asked.

"We need Samantha's help in doing that."

"Me?" Samantha said in surprise speaking for the first time since the conversation had started.

"Yes, you Samantha." Naruto said with so much confidence that Samantha and the others had stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Where we were taken, you followed us in pursuit. You were able to control thousands of zombies before Richtofen took control. You are – no offense – the closest thing to Richtofen we've got right now.

"...As much as it pains me to say it... you are right. Vhat do you need me to do?"

"Can you try to show us the entire continent?"

"I can try..."

Almost 1 minute later a gigantic tactical like map, showing the entire Elemental Nations appeared in front of them. The first thing they noticed was a lot of the Elemental Nations appears to have been reduced to a barren wasteland. Towns and villages were burned to the ground leaving remains of the buildings that once stood there as a remainder to the survivors of what happened there. Much of the landscape was reduced to a barren wasteland, similar to what they have seen when they first arrived in this dimension. The Elemental Nations from their point of view looked like shit. But still better off than Earth.

The Tactical Map was in real time too and they could see hordes of zombies of all types slowly moving across the entire landmass. Infecting and turning other people into zombies themselves. Not only that thanks to the map being there for some reason unknown to them Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, Samantha and Naruto were now able to see one another.

Naruto while he didn't care much about his former home couldn't help but be angry at the state of it. It hit a nerve that this place was being reduced to a wasteland and this world military was steadily losing ground.

The spiky haired blonde narrowed his eyes dangerously at the sight. "Fucking hell. This place is worse off than I thought."

The others nodded in agreement "Yeah. A lot of the landmass have been reduced to a barren wasteland." Dempsey said aloud before turning to Naruto. "So do you see anything familiar to you on this map?"

Naruto furrowed his brow in thought as he tried to remember what he had learnt in the academy back when he was training to become a ninja. But with his amnesia it made remembering a little frustrating as the memories of his past is still fractured.

"Yeah. I remember a few things." The blonde eventually replied as he stared at the tactical map with narrowed eyes. "The Land of Fire my birthplace, and is the largest country on this continent. You can see it here surrounded by massive trees." He said as the map helpfully pointed out to the group where Konohagakure is.

"Surrounding the Land of Fire are six or seven other countries, several of them have been reduced to a barren wasteland however..." As Naruto said this, the tactical map pointed out to the group where the other smaller countries surrounding the Land of Fire was located by bullet points and showing them names of the country.

The Land of Hot Waters, Land of Rivers, Land of Sound, Kusagakure and Amegakure have all been shown to the group as the ones to have been reduced to a barren wasteland and most likely overrun with zombies.

The hidden village Takigakure was, by the tactical map's point of view, surrounded by zombie activity and the land around it was already dead. It would be a matter of time before the zombies find a way to invade and overwhelm them from sheer numbers. They could choose to go there and help them fend the zombies off if they wanted to.

"To the East is the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind. I can't recall much about them though apart from the fact that the Land of Wind is the Land of Fire's ally. The Land of Earth, has much animosity towards the Land of Fire for a reason I cannot remember." Naruto paused to take a breather and to allow the map to mark off the other two countries that is on the East side of the Land of Fire.

"To the Northwest is the Land of Lightning and to the West where there are a various of islands is the Land of Water. I can't remember much about them unfortunately." Naruto finished while the tactical map pointed out where the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water is located to the group.

"A lot of these countries has most of their land reduced to a wasteland too." Dempsey grimly pointed out. "Although the Land of Water seems to be fairly safe from the onslaught considering where they're located."

"They'll be screwed if they are invaded by an army of Hellhounds Tank." Naruto dryly pointed out. "One bite from them and you're fucked, unless you are immune like us."

"Not to mention they are likely to be isolated from outside world. The situation there may be worse than anywhere else on this fucking map." Nikolai added in a not so helpful manner.

Takeo rubbed his chin in thought as he stared at the tactical map with a calculating eye. "Many locations are open to us. But we can only choose one. But which one shall we choose?"

"Well..." Naruto began as he stared at the tactical map with a keen eye. "Several countries surrounding the great Five are already overrun. If we want we can choose one of them and search for any weaponry we can use against the undead or we can try and liberate them? Another choice is we can go to one of the great Five, and try and help them fight against the zombies there. But we don't know just how they'll react to five people appearing out of thin air."

Dempsey nodded his head and as he stared at the different locations the former United States marine stated in a militaristic tone, "So we have locations and points of interest marked out for us. Some are already beyond help and others are steadily losing ground against the undead horde. Question is: where 'bouts do we go to next?"

All Dempsey received was silence as his answer.


	4. Chapter 3

Dead Rising

Chapter 3

_Naruto had lost track of how long he was in the Der Riese facility. Most of his time spent there was undergoing experimentations that had the unfortunate effect of making his amnesia even worse. What little memory he had to begin with and the ones he was eventually regaining was now gone. Apart from knowing how to speak, knowing his name and age and to function on his own he was essentially a blank slate. He had miraculously retained the memory of his friendship with Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai however._

_He did not know how long he had been there but he knew he was never brought out of his room he shared with Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai unless it was to be experimented on. So he was confused and a little suspicious as to where he was being led as he followed Ludvig Maxis through the corridors of the facility. From what little interaction he had with the man Ludvig Maxis is a nice man. A kind man even despite the experimentations he had allowed his subordinates and assistant to preform on him. _

"_Maxis? Can I please ask you a question?" He suddenly asked._

"_You may young one." The man replied without looking over his shoulder. _

"_Where are we going exactly?" He asked with curiosity in his voice. "The only time I've been allowed out of my room is when I have..." He trailed off before sighing in depression. He didn't need to finish what he was bout to say. Maxis already knew what he had went through in this place since he got here._

_Ludvig did not say anything for the longest time."I am taking you to see someone I hold very dear to me." Maxis replied after gathering his thoughts together. "She needs to interact with someone that is close to her age."_

_Naruto had his interest piqued. There was someone close to his age and she was important to the doctor? _

"_Who is she?" Naruto asked as he and Ludvig Maxis stopped outside a closed door. _

_Ludvig wrapped his hand around the handle as he looked down at the curious boy who was staring between himself and the door with barely concealed interest. Maxis seeing this allowed a small smile to pull at the sides of his lips._

"_My daughter; Samantha Maxis." The doctor said before opening the door. _

X.X.X.X

The border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water was currently peaceful. There was no invading army of zombies. No life or death battles that decides the fate of a village, or town. It was a rare moment. As Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, sat on a hilltop overlooking the barren wasteland that was once part of the Land of Fire he silently mused as to how the world came to this state.

If he were a guessing man then he would guess that Naruto - his godson - going missing was the catalyst. It may have been mere coincidence that the dead rose from the grave a month after Naruto vanished, but in truth, it could have been anything really.

A ninja somewhere in the elemental countries could have tried to test out a new technique and it backfired which resulted in what is happening right now. Another guess could have been a novice seal user who designed a seal that was far too complicated. One thing led to another and the dead rose from their graves. A ninja could have been experimenting on people like Orochimaru is widely known to do.

If he were a religious man then he may have believed that the dead came back to life in order to punish them for all the misdeeds they've caused. Three Shinobi world wars. The abuse of Jinchūriki. Giving away the Tailed Beasts literal forces of nature to villages that sealed them in human containers in order to control their power. He knows that the shinobi world has brought a lot of death and misery to others for the benefit of their village. For their country. And instead of learning from their many past mistakes they continue the cycle anew.

Nevertheless the world as he knew it was being decimated little by little by an enemy that does not know how to stay dead. No matter how many zombies the ninja alliance manages to put down, a hundred more would come and take their place.

Almost all forms of chakra was useless against the walking dead. For example; what happens when you use techniques that attack ones chakra network on something that does not have one? Nothing. Nothing happens; and that is because illusions don't do shit on the dead. Techniques that use elements such as water, lightning, fire and earth however have proven to be effective against them. Even the raw chakra that Jinchūriki use have proven to be most effective and so far the zombies have been unable to adapt to the raw chakra of a Tailed Beast.

And since Konoha had lost theirs when Naruto vanished three years ago they were at a major disadvantage. But they held their own against the undead without a Jinchūriki backing them and this had shown the shinobi world just why the Land of Fire was known as the strongest country in the Elemental Nations.

Another form of chakra that was effective against the zombies much to Jiraiya's relief was nature chakra. Since nature chakra was part of nature itself the zombies were, for a reason unknown to him, unable to adapt to it.

Using summon animals to help fight off the dead was as of two years ago off limits. To his surprise all summon animals were being invaded by the undead as well. Unsurprisingly the summons were having more success in fighting off the dead than the humans were. Almost being the size of a small mountain did have its perks. However in spite their successes in pushing back the undead they too were having problems. The zombies seem to be growing more and more in number with each death every day and they are slowly adapting to the way summons fight as well.

But until the summon animals find a way to keep the dead from finding their way into their realm then summoning them was prohibited unless the situation really called for it.

That was two years ago.

Then not more than a week ago he felt a new energy source appear just on the outskirts of the Land of Fire. The Land of Waves if he remembered correctly. He did not travel over there to look into what was the cause of the strange energy source considering he was helping ninjas of different nationalities fight off zombies at the time. By the time he got there the trail was cold, but had gotten information from fellow Konoha shinobi of a group of five people who mysteriously appeared out of nowhere and somehow stopped a zombie invasion that was plaguing the village for the past 7 days.

After probing the konoha ninja for more information he had gotten a small description of the dubbed 'Mysterious Five' and the weapons they held. When he heard of the blue eyed, spiky blonde haired teenage boy being with them it caused alarms to go off in his head. He had his suspicions on who the boy was and after reverse summoning himself to Mount Myōboku he quickly checked the summoning scroll to see if his suspicions about the boy was correct.

To his dismay the name he had been wanting to see back on the scroll was not there. Therefore his suspicions were not correct..

Sighing aloud with depression Jiraiya shook his head to get rid of the depressing thoughts and got to his feet. From his current location he was near Yugakure and beyond that is a large division of Kumo shinobi - along with one of their Jinchūriki leading the division - is stationed and is attempting to delay the advancement of the undead horde into the Land of Lightning.

He was on his way to support them after catching wind about it from civilians who were fleeing the Land of Hot Water. Not that it would do them any good considering the undead are almost everywhere. From his estimate it would take him about 3 – 4 hours tops, 2 if he really pushed himself while travelling at ninja speed to get there.

Sending chakra to his legs the toad sage leap off the hill and sprinted the way of the way to his destination. Every second was crucial and if he wasted it resting then the changes of the division succeeding holding their ground was becoming less and less likely.

As he made his way to the Land of Hot Water the toad sage felt a large spike of chakra near the border of the country he was going to, and the Land of Frost. Knowing of the defence stationed there Jiraiya guessed it was them doing something big to increase their chances of success.

X.X.X.X

Dempsey, Samantha, Takeo, Nikolai and Naruto narrowed their eyes in interest as the group stared at a rather large defence force preparing themselves to protect the Land of Frost. Not more than 4 miles away is a large force of type 1 zombies, and they are closing the distance at a shocking pace.

The location the group are looking at is in the Land of Hot Water, a country that stands between the Land of Fire and the Land of Frost. It is also one of the many countries that has been overrun with zombies is now nothing more than a wasteland.

"So that is where we're goin' next, huh?"

"Yep. That is where we are heading Tank." Naruto replied with his head nodding.

"Appearing in front of zhe defence group before the undead get zhere may not vork in our favour. If ve vere to suddenly appear vithout any varning, zhen they may become hostile towards us zhe moment ve reveal ourselves. Ve may have to appear somevhere else so ve do not startle zhem."

"That's true." Dempsey admitted. "Appearing right in the middle of them may work against us than for us. So where do we go from here?" He asked himself before he turned to stare at the others for suggestions.

Takeo has a keen tactical mind. Naruto surprisingly can think up plans and tactical ideas on the spot. Nikolai whenever he isn't completely hammered to the level he can't tell his own ass from his foot can think for himself and is fairly intelligent. But that was rare. Samantha he was not to sure about her, since she hasn't been with the group that long. But she has been more helpful to them than Richtofen had ever been since she had joined their little group.

Grumbling to himself Nikolai sat down, unstrapped his back sack, opened it and took out a bottle of vodka. After uncorking the bottle Nikolai took two mouthfuls of the alcoholic liquid and re-corked it.

Smacking his lips Nikolai put the bottle back in his sack and made a suggestion. "What if we were to wait. And then once the hell-spawns are engaged with the defenders we make our appearance when they're fighting?"

"A viable method. But not a good idea." Naruto replied as the tactical map zoomed in on the defence force so the group would have a better understanding on their placement. "I may not remember much about these idiots who have the gall to call themselves 'ninja', but I do know they are likely to have a lot of widespread based chakra techniques. So appearing in the thick of the fighting may not be a good thing to do."

"These widespread techniques you mentioned; just how widespread are we talkin' here?" Dempsey asked.

Naruto shrugged helplessly as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. Let's just assume – because they can defy all logic – that they can wipe out entire battalions in a matter of seconds."

Dempsey nodded his head concededly. "Ok. Fair enough." While he could ask more questions to get more answers he decided to conclude the conversation there. Naruto barely remembers anything of this dimension anyway. But he did have a fair point; Naruto did defy logic by making a solid copy of himself and considering he came from here, it is safe to assume these 'ninja' - and he is using that term loosely because the things these people do not have the right to call themselves that – can use similar techniques.

"What in zhe name of..." The group heard Samantha say in disbelief.

Nikolai, Dempsey, Takeo and Naruto who weren't looking at the map at the time brought back their attention to the tactical map. Just when they saw a large concrete wall that is several miles long in length suddenly spout out of the ground in front of the defence force.

"What..." Dempsey began as he stared at the newly appeared wall in shocked disbelief.

"The..." Takeo added, looking equally shocked as the American.

"Fuck...!?" Nikolai concluded looking and sounding as shocked as Takeo and Dempsey is.

Naruto merely stared at the scene with arched brows and a slightly gaping mouth. He knew that the ninja of his dimension are capable of a lot of great and terrible things. But he never really expected them to be able to create a large solid concrete wall from the ground itself.

"Well that's new. I wonder where that came from?" Just as Naruto asked that question he took notice of several ninjas kneeling with their hands planted firmly on the ground in front of them.

He analysed the scene and quickly came to a theory as to what had happened. The ninjas that are kneeling on the ground must have done one of their logic defying techniques and made that concrete wall spout out of the ground.

Taking a minute to gather himself Dempsey slapped himself across the face to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He wasn't. Sighing shakingly the former marine turned to Naruto and said, "Ok; this dimension of yours Naruto is just getting weirder and weirder by the minute. What's next; being able to summon a god?"

Even though it was a rhetorical question Naruto replied anyway. "Defying all laws of physic and logic remember?"

"...You cannot be serious kid. They could summon an actual god?" Dempsey questioned with mounting disbelief. If Naruto was being serious about his people being able to do THAT then fucking hell!

"I dunno." The whisker face blonde mumbled lowly. "I came to your dimension through unknown means. Not to mention we exited your dimension and came to mine from a portal made by a machine powered by Element 115. If that is possible then anything is."

Takeo nodded in agreement with Naruto. If that is possible then they can't do things half-ass here. They will have to be careful and make sure they don't piss off the people here. "I believe we can all agree with one another that we should to expect the unexpected?"

Naruto clasped his hands together enthusiastically after they agreed. "Now that we got that out of the way, let's get back to what we were doing before: finding out where we should appear." He said with so much enthusiasm in his voice it sounded fake to be real.

After Naruto said that the group then began to plan on where they would enter the battle from. Teleporting right in the thick of battle was something they agreed not to do. They would be at risk from attacks from not just the zombies but from the ninja as well. They also agreed to not appear in front of the defence force, just in case they might take the five of them as hostile's by accident and attack them. But they can be too far from them either.

In the end Samantha got fed up over their bickering and indecision and picked the location for them without their consent.

X.X.X.X

On the border between Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost we find the ninjas from Kumogakure standing and in some cases kneeling on top of the concrete wall they had created to delay the zombie advance. Ever since the zombies learned from each encounter with the ninjas they've engaged, the ninjas from different nations were having difficulties in trying to stop the zombies from advancing deeper in their territory.

They were forced to go back to their basics that involved using anything at their disposal such as hand to hand combat or projectiles weapons. Unfortunately they were unable to get their hands on any of the kunai launchers that Konoha had gotten recently from the Land of Spring. They would have helped tremendously. However they knew that some chakra techniques were utterly useless against the dead while others were more effective.

'Earth Release: Earth-Style wall' is a defence technique. Used by the user or users to either help defend their position or themselves, and as the name of the technique suggests, it isn't ideal for attacking but defending; or in some cases delaying an enemies advance. In this case the technique is used to delay the zombies from advancing into the Land of Frost and in turn the Land of Lightning.

"Have you heard about that group that appeared out of nowhere near the Land of Waves?" A Kumo ninja of genin rank suddenly asked as a conversation starter and as a way to pass the time.

"The so called 'Mysterious Five'? Yeah, I heard of them." A kunoichi of chunin rank replied with a nod of her head. "They were said to have stopped the zombies attacking the Wave village on the day they appeared only to vanish into thin air not long after. I wonder why they are called that though?"

"We barely know anything about them, and what little we do know of them makes the five of them mysterious." A third Kumo ninja also of chunin rank said including himself in the conversation. "I heard they are all foreigners that come from a distant land across the seas, far beyond the Elemental Nations."

"I have never heard of any other lands that lie beyond the Elemental Nations."

"That's because we never sent anyone to explore the world beyond. It is of no surprise we never heard of them until last week. And even then we still know next to nothing about them."

"What about the Konoha-nins? They were looking into it since they are closer to the Land of Waves."

"I heard they got little to no information regarding the mysterious five. Just a basic description of them among other things." The kumo ninja that began to conversation replied. "How long do you think the dead will arrive?"

"That is something we don't know." They all turned and saw the commander of the defence force, Yugito Nii standing behind them with her arms crossed as she stared ahead unflinchingly.

Yugito Nii is a 29 years old woman, a Jonin and the second Jinchuuriki of Kumogakure. She has dark eyes and long straight blonde hair that was bound with tight bandages that reached down her mid-back. Her attire consists of a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants with both of them having a similar design of clouds on them and a red belt around her waist. On her arms and legs she also wore bandages of a similar design she used to bound her hair. Lastly the woman wore purple fingerless gloves and a chain of blue beads wound around her left arm and hand.

The blonde haired woman looked at her subordinates and added; "Seeing as they never tire they could arrive at any time at any moment. That is why we must remain vigilant."

"Commander Yugito!" All the ninja's in close proximity jump to their feet and stood in attention respectfully. The ninja who spoke continued. "What do you think our chances in succeeding holding back the undead?"

Yugito stared at her comrades with a hard look. "Do you want the optimistic or honest answer?" She asked.

"The honest answer."

Yugito nodded and then answered honestly. "Very well then I won't sugar coat anything; the honest answer is this: with the enemy being able to quickly adapt to our abilities with every encounter our chance of defending the Land of Frost successfully is slim."

"So we have no chance then?"

"I never said that!" Yugito replied sharply, giving the nameless ninja that spoke a fierce glare. "Our chance of succeeding maybe small but it is not impossible. Not to mention you have me here." She reminded them all, while at the same time, raising their hopes since Yugito is the second strongest Jonin Kumogakure has because of her Jinchuuriki status. "So far the chakra of a Tailed Beast is effective against the dead and not to mention they are for the moment unable to adapt to it. If the situation becomes dire enough then I will transform into my Tailed Beast form."

One of the nearby Jonin kunoichi, who had dark brown hair tied in a bun asked pensively, "Do we know what type of zombie we're up against?"

"It was reported that type 1's are what we are up against." Yugito replied informatively. "But that can easily change. As you all most likely know type 1's are able to evolve to type 2's or 3's depending on the circumstance. And having fought all three types I know how difficult they are..."

She trailed off as she and everyone else in the defence force felt an unknown source of energy suddenly appear out of nowhere, in the direction of Yukagure. It did not take long for them to recognise that the mysterious energy signature was the one that had appeared near the Land of Waves the week before.

Knowing just how mysterious the group that appeared one week ago was, and the connection they had with this unknown energy, Yugito to make her decision. She turned to the nearest ninja and with authority in her voice began her orders. She recognised the first two and addressed them.

"Akira! Get a group of four ready to mobilize and follow my lead! We need to reach Yukagure before the undead can!" She then turned to the kunoichi that was beside Akira. "Asuka you take command here while I'm gone! Make sure no one abandons their post!"

A chunin addressed as Akira, nodded his head frantically before speeding off to do what Yugito had asked of him. Asuka when given her orders merely saluted and immediately began to give out orders to inform the defence force that she is going to be in command for the time being.

Meanwhile Yugito had already leapt off the wall and was making her descent to the ground. Using the skills she had gained from years of experience as a ninja the female Jinchuuriki safely and expertly landed on the ground in a kneel, making a small smoke cloud that was filled with dirt and dust from the dying earth shoot up into the air around her. Huffing the blonde haired woman leapt up like a cat and started sprinting in the direction where she had last felt the energy signature.

That energy was exactly the same as the one that appeared at the Land of Waves. The very same energy that signified the mysterious groups arrival. If her hunch was right, if she continued moving in the direction she was going now, she and her group – once they caught up to her - would soon meet up with this mysterious group that made themselves famous in the Elemental Nations.

Elsewhere at the exact same time, Jiraiya was making his way to the Land of Hot Water. On his way to the abandoned country he too had felt the mysterious energy suddenly appear out of nowhere. The toad sage narrowed his eyes as he stopped his fast pace, and closed his eyes to concentrate in his sensing of the direction the energy had come from.

Huh, now that is odd. The energy dispersed just as fast as it appeared so he was not able to completely pinpoint where the energy originated. Concentrating a little Jiraiya was able to detect a few traces of it left, not enough for him to point it down however. He isn't that much of a sensor without of Sage Mode but he is passable.

As he 'felt' for the energy he picked up something else that was almost smothered, coming from the north east. "Now that is interesting. A chakra signature?" He mused to himself aloud as he scratched his chin.

Jiraiya focused his limited sensing on the chakra signature. From the distance he is from it the chakra signature was coming in the direction of Yukagure and was barely noticeable. As if it was being suppressed. There is also feeling of familiarity to it. He wouldn't know why the chakra signature felt familiar to him unless he got closer.

"That chakra signature feels familiar." The toad sage said to himself as he opened his eyes. "Could it be someone I know from Konoha?" He asked himself thoughtfully, before shaking his head. "No. It isn't likely to be anyone from the Land of Fire." He told himself. "It takes almost a month at the very least to reach Yukagure. The rumoured 'Mysterious Five' is the likely answer, but why would one of them be someone I should know? No, a better question is why is there only one chakra signature instead of 5?"

There are so many questions, and so little answers. And if he wanted the answers then he needs to go to Yugakure to get them. He decided to take a little detour from his original destination. Yugakure leads the way to the Land of Frost and that former hidden village fell a long time ago. There is nothing more than ruins and abandoned buildings there now. He also knew if the undead are to reach the Land of Frost, and in turn the kumo defence force, they would have to pass through Yugakure first.

X.X.X.X

Takeo blinked his eyes in bewilderment. He was no longer in that odd place with the others and in was in a different area. He quickly raised his type 100 and carefully scanned his surroundings. He appears to be in an abandoned town that was filled with a lot of decay and rot with a battered looking bridge nearby that would look like it would collapse if the slightest weight was pressed on it.

The buildings now that he looked closely at them were covered in fungus and corrosion. Most likely the exposer to time in combination to the earth dying being the main reason for this. The buildings, even the bridge, are made from the resources the earth provides. It made sense they too would deteriorate as the earth did.

How did he end up here again? Oh, that's right, Samantha got fed up with their indecision and teleported them down to the planet, to a completely random location, without their consent. Sighing in irritation Takeo allowed to the Type 100 to drop against his waist. With it in close proximity to his hand, he can easily grab it, bring it up and take aim in less than 10 seconds.

Still, he had to admit to himself that something good did come out of this. Samantha had gotten them to a location and from what he can tell it is not near the defence force that had made the wall in the far distance.

Wait a minute...

Takeo squinted his eyes and made his way to the bridge to get a better look. A fair distance away – approximately 3 miles is his guess – there is a giant wall that seemed to stretch for miles. If he were to guess from where he was, the samurai would say the walls were about 40 feet in height. Maybe more.

"Takeo?" The man heard Naruto loudly calling out. He was fairly close by too from how loud the boys voice was. "You around somewhere?"

"Over here, Uzumaki." The former Imperial officer yelled out in response without turning around. He had thought on not replying for a moment, but quickly threw that idea out of the proverbial window. Takeo was not that sort of person. Dempsey and Belinski were. And in some cases so too was Samantha. But he was not. Nor will he ever be. His tactical mind knew how important it was for them all to regroup as soon as possible.

The former Imperial officer heard Naruto making an affirmative grunt before trying to make his way over to him. A few minutes later Naruto finally found Takeo standing by the bridge looking in the distance.

The whisker face blonde immediately noticed something different about the man. The elemental staff that was strapped to his back was something even a five year old would notice. But it wasn't that, that had made Takeo look different. Instead of the 'old, but wise man who can kick your ass five ways to Sunday' look Takeo had about him, the asian man was...less strained. He seemed younger for some reason.

It wasn't until Naruto was close to the man that he was able to confirm the differences. Takeo had indeed gotten younger. The wrinkles that were on his face were now gone. The moustache that was above his upper lip now had a rough beard to go with it. He now looks to be in his mid to late twenties instead of his fifties.

He still wore the same uniform when he had first met the man. The officers uniform the samurai would wear when they are in the Imperial Army to signify their heritage.

"Takeo." Said man silently turned his head and looked at Naruto with curiosity at the nervous tone in his voice.

What did the boy have to be nervous about?

"Do you feel... 'different' than you remember?"

Takeo narrowed his eyes in confusion. What sort of question was that? Why would he feel different than he normally would? He paused, now that Naruto mentioned it he did feel a little different. He feels a lot stronger and more healthier than he remembered. Not to mention he feels like 30 years was taken off from his age.

"Now that it has been mentioned I do feel different." The man replied with a gesture of acknowledgement. He closed his eyes and steadily breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. "I feel younger. Stronger. Much healthier. I feel I can fight for several hours and then some." He opened his eyes and looked at Naruto once more. "Why do you ask, young one?"

Rubbing his chin Naruto let out an analysing sound as he looked Takeo over. "Well you look a lot, lot more younger than I remember you being." He said to the man as he stared up at him. He didn't see Takeo being young necessarily as a bad thing.

Takeo stared at Naruto in astonishment for a moment and quickly brought his hands to his face to look them over. While he couldn't see his own face Takeo knew his own body well enough to know its limits. He had seen the wrinkles on the back of his hands since he had came to his late thirties early forties.

To see them without the wrinkles for the first time in almost 30 years was astounding for the samurai.

He looked over his shoulder noticing the elemental staff for the first time he had arrived here. There was only one way that this was possible. It had to have been after he had got the staff. He saw that Naruto came to the same conclusion as he did, given the look the whisker faced blonde was giving to the staff.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Takeo?"

"Yes. It appears the elemental staff may have been the main cause of my decrease in age."

They turned their heads around to look over their shoulder when they heard Dempsey loudly calling out. "Nikolai! Naruto! Takeo! Where the hell are you all!?" They heard his voice from behind the fense.

"Takeo and I are over here Tank! Is Samantha and Nikolai with you?" Naruto called back, revealing their location to the former United States marine.

Both Takeo and Naruto heard the marine grumbling incoherently under his breath while not answering the question he was asked. Naruto inwardly sighed in irritation. Of course Dempsey wouldn't answer his question about Samantha, he still did not trust her after all. Suddenly the fence was knocked down sending dust and splinters everywhere.

Both Takeo and Naruto stared at the feat with wide eyes as an annoyed Dempsey emerged from the smoke with Nikolai and a sheepish looking Samantha trailing behind him.

The trio made their way to Naruto and Takeo at the bridge. After they were finally beside the duo Dempsey finally answered to the question Naruto had asked him two minutes before. "Yeah, they're with me." Dempsey sniffed the air as he leaned against the bridge and sneezed violently. "Man, it stinks here."

"What can you expect from a place that is literally rotting and decaying?"

"Good point." Dempsey conceded. He looked around and seeing the wall from the real time tactical map had asked, "So any ideas on where the hell we ended up? Because I know for a fact we're not near the defence force seeing as the wall they made is all the way, way, way over there."

Nikolai rubbed his armpit as he grunted thoughtfully at the back of his throat. "Perhaps were are in Land of Waters?" He stated, before shaking his head seconds after. "No, that's not it. Hot Waters? Da! Land of Hot Waters! I remember now, to get to Land of Lightning the hellspawn would need to pass through the Land of Hot Waters!"

"Very perceptive of you, Nikki." Takeo said thinly.

Both Naruto and Samantha knew that Nikolai can be frighteningly perceptive when he wants to be. Because of the way Nikolai is, a lot of people quickly forget that and think he is an unintelligent drunk.

"Holy fuck!" Nikolai suddenly exclaimed in shock as he took in Takeo's youthful appearance. "What the fuck happened to you Takeo!?"

Dempsey and Samantha looked at Takeo and they too were shocked at how longer the samurai looked. Samantha however was able to keep her shock well under control. Tank Dempsey, not so much. He aimed his M-16 at the samurai with a suspicious look on his face.

"...Are you serious?" Naruto asked blandly, and with a blank expression upon seeing the marine holding Takeo at gun point.

"I am dead serious Naruto." Dempsey said seriously, never taking his eyes and gun away from Takeo who merely stared down at the barrel of the gun with an uncaring look. "How do we know that this is the real Takeo?"

"You spent the past five minutes standing beside him Tank. And I was with him longer than that." Naruto pointed out in the same bland tone and expressionless face. "Not to mention-" He pointed his index finger at the elemental staff that hanging from the samurai's back. "-he still has the staff we got from the Wave Village."

Dempsey looked at the staff for a few seconds before looking back to Naruto. "It could have been faked." Was the marines stubborn reply.

"He knows where we've been and what we've done."

Dempsey gazed between Takeo and Naruto for a moment. "Really now? We'll see about that." And refocused his attention on the indifferent Takeo who of all things was looking bored. "If you are really Takeo, then this should be easy for you since you were there when this happened: what is the most embarrassing thing that happened to me?"

Takeo arched an eyebrow at the question. There were a lot of embarrassing moments Dempsey had. But there was one that stood out. The time they were trapped in the frozen shut room that was filled with darkness.

He answered that question by asking a question of his own. "Is this before or after we reached Shangri-la?"

"Before."

"Very well." Takeo much to the surprise of everyone had an uncharacteristic smile. Looking as if he was going to enjoy what he was going to do next. "We were all trapped behind a frozen door at the time. I was vomiting, and the room we were all trapped in was dark. Richtofen was trying to find a light switch and in his search he-"

"Okay! Okay! You are the real Takeo! Just don't mention that ever again!" Dempsey frantically cut the Asian from finishing his sentence. The others stifled their laughter at Dempsey's frantic interruption and quickly silenced themselves when he glared dangerously at them. Daring them to laugh at his misfortune with Richtofen.

Clearing her throat Samantha looked at everyone with a serious look. "Joking aside ve need to prepare for zhe undead zhat ve vill inevitably encounter."

Knowing that Samantha was right they too became serious. Wanting to know how much time they had left, Naruto turned to Samantha since she is connected to the undead. She just can't take control of them anymore.

"Samantha do you know how long we have until they get here?"

Samantha narrowed her eyes and look at Naruto in return. "I vill check." Samantha closed her eyes and a second later they snapped open, revealing a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Her skin also lost its colour, becoming a pale white, like snow during the winter.

This was Samantha's 'Awakened' state; where Samantha uses whatever remained of her power when she was controlling the zombies to help out the group. Having seen this a few times before and knowing she wouldn't harm them, it still made the others nervous to be around her. Even Naruto. Having seen those pair of eyes on all the zombies before Richtofen and Samantha switched bodies on the moon it became unnerving to see it on a girl like Samantha who always appeared so lively.

While it did unnerve them they had to admit her being allowed to do that, despite being in a body not of her own, saved their hides multiple times in the past. Not only did that ability tell Samantha how many zombies there are, she also knew of their location.

There was also a weird side effect that affected her speech pattern. Instead of having a German accent she had an American one. Strange, isn't it?

Samantha narrowed her eyes as she looked to the East. "I found them. They're coming from the south and are less than one mile away from us. My guess is they'll be here within the hour." She told them.

Dempsey nodded in confirmation. "Then we need to prepare for their arrival." He told them before taking command. "Samantha do you think you can help us out by putting some weapon outlines and perk machines around this place?"

"It will strain my already limited power but it can be done."

"That's all we'll need. We can change our weapons, or get more ammo, and increase our chances of survival by drinking those perk-a-colas." He then turned to Takeo. "Takeo do you think that staff would be of any use?" He questioned regarding the elemental staff on his back.

Takeo took the staff from his back and held it in front of him with the top facing the ground. He didn't know why but it felt he knew how to use it. As if the knowledge on how to use it was was engraved into his memories. There was a lever like trigger near his left hand to make it fire, he would just have to pull on it.

"Yes." Takeo eventually answered. "I believe the staff would be of use to us."

"It fires balls of molten lava." Naruto dryly pointed out. "If that isn't useful then I don't know what is."

"Being able to melt the sons-of-bitches beyond recognition does sound useful." Dempsey stated with grim satisfaction in his tone. "But to me watching them turn into red mist, when we tear their bodies apart with our bullets is much, much more satisfying." He added as an after thought.

"What about blowing them away with Thunder gun? You enjoy doing that more than any of us." Everyone had to give Nikolai a point there as he was speaking the truth. Dempsey did genuinely enjoy blowing zombies away with the Thunder Gun in both Kino Der Toten and Ascension.

"What's not to enjoy? You blow them up into the sky. Plus it clears out rooms quickly enough. Not like the Wonder Waffle."

"Hey! That gun was awesome! You could clear out rooms with that too." Naruto said coming to the defence of the electric used weapon. What could he say? He fricking loved that gun. It was always a one-hit kill no matter what type of zombie they were or the distance you fired from.

Of course you had to make sure that the bolt of electricity managed to connect with its target or it would have been a waste. But it was always a one-hit kill, no matter the distance you were. If you were on top of a roof of a building then as long as the bolt hit its target, it would spread out to several more zombies like a chain and kill them instantly.

Unlike the Thunder Gun you had to be close to the zombies in order for it to be a one-hit kill.

"Before you all get carried away we need to figure out where we can go to hold the zombies off." Samantha said reminding them of the oncoming threat. In her "Are there any buildings we can use to defend against them?"

"The buildings aren't safe enough to hide in." Naruto replied as he spun around with the others turning with him to look at the buildings. "As you can see they're rotting and most of them look like they are going to collapse at any second."

"Not to mention taking shelter from the undead in any of these buildings will trap us from all sides as well." Samantha added in support of Naruto. "Staying outside we would have an advantage of staying one step ahead of them."

"Staying in the open isn't safe either." Countered Dempsey. "They'll be swarming us from every direction. Inside these buildings we can funnel the freak sacks through the doorways or windowsills allowing us to easily pick 'em off. Not to mention giving us a better chance of survival."

"Both of your concerns on our situation have merit." Takeo butted in the conversation. Having gotten their attention he began to state his own points about staying in the open, or staying in the buildings. "Staying in any of these structures, we would be at risk of having it collapse on top of us, and surrounded by enemies. But we would be able to combat the undead with great efficiency if they are focused on getting inside through the windows and doorways. However, staying outside, we would be at risk of getting separated and overwhelmed."

"Staying inside buildings for long period of time is not good idea then. Nor is staying outside." Nikolai said. He understood what Takeo was trying to say.

Takeo nodded in confirmation glad that Nikolai was able to understand. The asian then went on to tell the group to remember about their past experiences on their engagement with the undead; he brought up Der Riese and Shi No Numa, as examples where they held their ground in the rooms Der Riese provided but moved on when they were being close to getting overwhelmed.

For Shi No Numa Takeo reminded them all how many close calls they had because they stayed in the open swamp instead of taking shelter in the buildings or huts that was close to them. The five of them nearly lost their lives in that godforsaken place because they never used their common sense and now while they were trying to plan on how to deal with the oncoming threat, he realised they were once again not using their common sense.

While they did make good and bad points they conveniently forgot they can _move to other buildings_ before they get overwhelmed.

When Takeo finally got his piece said, Samantha nodded her head in agreement with Takeo and asked them in a questioning tone, "Why don't you do what you used to do when I was controlling the zombies? Move from building to building before you get overwhelmed? That was an effective strategy you used against me if I am honest."

They all stared at her making the girl a little uncomfortable at the looks they were giving her. Then all of a sudden Naruto much to the surprise of everyone palmed his face and groaned at their stupidity for not using their common sense.

"...You know instead of having this conversation we could have just done what Samantha suggested." The whisker face blonde said to Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo without turning to look at them.

Suddenly Samantha whipped her head to the south of their location. Her normally calm eyes going wide in distress. The others saw this and quickly raised their guns and carefully surveyed their surroundings. Anything that startled Samantha was bound to be bad for them in the long run.

"Samantha what is it?" Questioned Dempsey as he scanned carefully scanned the building rooftops for any zombie activity. Having fought zombies that could teleport anywhere at any time, he knew they had to keep an eye on everything within their field of vision.

"The zombies." Said the girl in a faint whisper. "They've started to run!"

The four turned to look at Samantha with confused yet startled looks before looking at one another worryingly. Their previous encounters with zombies told them they don't just suddenly run.

"Walkers don't run." Dempsey stated as his teeth bared to an angry snarl. "Samantha, put those weapon outlines on the walls and get those perk machines down here ASAP!" He ordered as he pulled the magazine out of the chamber of his M-16 to see how much ammo was currently in it. "These are not walker's we're going to be dealing with!"

"No shit!" Nikolai exclaimed with a loud curse. He too was checking how much ammo he had in his drum magazine for his PPSh-41 by taking it off the slot where the magazine would go, and weighting it in his hand. It was heavy so Nikolai knew it was full. "These are either runners or sprinters we are to be dealing with!"

"Hopefully it's the former and not the latter!" Naruto said to them urgently. Like the others he too was checking how much ammo was in the magazine of his assault rifle. However unlike the others he was checking how much bullets were inside his side arm as well.

While the others were checking on how much ammo they had Samantha was doing what Dempsey had asked her to do. Glowing eyes closed in concentration Samantha used her already limited power to place weapon outlines on the walls of the abandoned village. Once that was done she then summoned the perk machines and spread them throughout the village so they would not be to close to one another.

With the perk machines and weapon outlines in place, Samantha began to sway on her feet as she went back to her normal state. She promptly fell to her knees wheezing heavily and looking out of it. Naruto seeing this had already finished checking his weapons and quickly wrapped an arm around her waist, and helped her stay on her feet as she didn't have the strength to do it by herself at the moment.

As Samantha mentioned before, her power was limited. She is unable to do what she was capable of doing before completely. She could bring perk machines, power-ups, and weapon out lines to aid her group. She can sense the presence of zombies from up to 10 miles in diameter but will not be able to control them like before. Unlike trying to discover where the zombies are in terms of location, bringing the perk machines and weapon outlines to her team strains the body she is possessing significantly.

She would be weak for ten minutes at the very least and would require the aid of the ones around her. However she was friends with Naruto, and on relatively good terms with the others. Figuratively speaking of course. She knows if she wasn't useful to them then Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo would have abandoned her long ago.

"Samantha, are you ok?!" Asked a frantically worried Naruto who had an arm under her arm to keep her on her feet.

Samantha still wheezing nodded her head slowly yet tiredly in response. "I am alright Naruto; I merely need to rest until I get mien strength back."

Naruto nodded his head before looking around for the closest building to take shelter in. With Samantha immobile, as much as he didn't want to admit it, she would be a liability to them rather than an asset. Previous warnings of the buildings not being safe be damned he was going to find some place to put Samantha so she can rest, and where they can defend against the undead horde.

They don't even know how far away the undead are now that they're running to this abandoned village.

Seeing one structure that has a stiff door still on its henge, Naruto with Samantha being held in one arm, made his way to the building. Without stopping the whisker face blonde turned to look halfway over his shoulder and yelled; "Dempsey, Takeo, Nikolai, I'm going to take shelter with Samantha in one of the buildings!"

"What happened to us not using the buildings?" The marine questioned as he and the others followed the two teens to the building.

"Plans change when you're facing a crisis." Was Naruto's hasty retort as they made their way across the road. Pressing his foot up against the door, Naruto put all his weight into pushing against it to see if it would budge or not. Seeing it wouldn't budge Naruto tsked, and knocked the door of its hinges sending splinters everywhere. "I'd say that having one of us immobile, while an army full of fleshing eating zombies with no knowledge of how close they are to us, is a crisis!" He added as he and Samantha went inside the building with the others following in after them.

"You won't get any complaints from me kiddo. I wonder if this building is sturdy enough to withstand added weight?"

Nikolai bounced on his feet on the floor of the building. "Looks sturdy to this Soviet!" Exclaimed Nikolai as he kept bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"I do not think jumping lightly on the floor proves anything" Takeo deadpanned at the Russian, who rudely flicked him the middle finger in response. He scoffed and began to look around the room of the building they were going to be using for the time being.

Surprisingly the inside of the building was in a much better condition than its outside appearance. There was a little corrosion on the walls and floor, but overall, the building looks sturdy enough to withstand the added weight of a few people. He wasn't sure about the added weight of all the zombies that are sure to try and get themselves inside.

"Fortune smiles upon us, for this structure will suit our needs." Stated the samurai after making his examination of the building's interior.

"Hopefully there will be an outline for a weapon somewhere in this building. I do not fancy fighting zombies and being unable to change our gun when we run out of ammo for it." Naruto said as he helped Samantha move to a nearby couch and laid her gently down on it.

Dempsey grunted in agreement as he made his way to another section of the building. "In that case I'll scope out the building. See if there is anything useful to us here."

"I will border up the windows and other access points!" Nikolai yelled out before going off to do just that.

Takeo sighed as Nikolai began to try and move a bookcase that was beside the doorway to block the entryway. Forgetting there was a currently broken door lying flat on the ground. In front of the doorway itself. Currently impeding Nikolai's attempt at moving the bookcase. Shaking his head Takeo sighed in irritation at Nikolai forgetfulness, and, began to mutter incoherently under his breath as he made his way over to Nikolai, before yanking him away from the bookcase and pulled him to the front of the doorway while ignoring his indignant yelling and whining.

He forced the drunk to look down at the ground, where Nikolai stopped his whining and yelling as he finally took notice of the knocked down door that was in front of the piece of furniture.

"...How did that get there?" Nikolai asked as he pointed at the downed door lying in front of the bookcase.

Takeo merely growled out as he palmed his face before dragging his hand downward. It wasn't Nikolai's fault he became the way he now is. He needed to down alcohol regularly otherwise he would become unresponsive; which is why he is always drunk.

"Takeo! Want to help me move this door out of the way?" The man asked as he went down on his knees to try and lift up the door.

Takeo sighed before getting on the opposite end of the door. "Very well." He replied before kneeling down and slipping his digits under the edges of the door. "On three. One. Two. Three!"

While they were busy moving the door out of the way Naruto was sitting on the ground beside the slouching Samantha with their hands clasped together. The girl was resting on the couch to regain her lost energy bringing those perk machines and weapon outlines to the village they're in. Naruto in the meantime was keeping an eye on things around them. He took amusement in watching Takeo and Nikolai's antics in trying to shove the door out of the way so they could move the bookcase in front of the empty doorway.

"The door should be used to help us!" Takeo argued with a glare.

"No! Door should be outside where it would not be in way!" Nikolai argued back with a snarl pulling at his lips.

As you could tell, the two did not agree with one another.

Samantha opened her eyes and showing her annoyance tried to glare in the direction of the noisiness. When she couldn't do that she settled for lightly glaring at Naruto. Seeing the light glare Samantha was giving him, he gave her a flat look, his expression conveying his answer without the need to say anything.

"You are zhe closest one." Samantha uttered in a soft voice. Her light glare never leaving her eyes even as Naruto's expression became even flatter at what she said to him.

"You can speak for yourself." He pointed out to her in a lowered voice.

Samantha gave him an 'are you serious look' before replying. "Zhey are more likely to listen to you instead of me." Which was true since Nikolai and Takeo are more closer to Naruto, and would therefore take his consideration more highly than her own.

Then just as Naruto was about to make his reply Tank Dempsey made his presence known. "Takeo! Nikolai! Keep your voices down for fucks sake!" Bellowed the man from upstairs. His voice was tinged with barely veiled annoyance. "You'll bring the zombies down on our asses at the rate your argument is going!"

And just like that Nikolai and Takeo stared at the ceiling in stiff silence. Naruto and Samantha merely looked at one another in surprise before shrugging and making themselves comfortable. If they're both quiet now than that is all that matters to them. Quietness equals more rest, and more rest equals less time for Samantha to regain her energy.

X.X.X.X

Jiraiya was panted heavily as he stopped sprinting to take a break. The toad sage had pushed himself really hard to get within spotting distance of Yugakure. Two hours he had pushed himself for. Two miles of non-stop chakra enhanced running. And right now he was paying for it as it left him exhausted.

The forests and gigantic trees the Land of Fire was well known for was long gone. Now the landscape was replaced by rocky terrain, also reduced to a barren wasteland like all the other countries affected by the undead hordes. In the far distance was the now abandoned former Hidden Village of Yugakure. Beyond that was a tall concrete wall that blocked off the border to the Land of Frost and in turn the Land of Lightning.

Jiraiya had to make an appreciative sound at the sight of it. The wall looked impressive from where he stood. It must've taken a shit-ton of chakra to make that. That must have been what that other chakra spike was. Ninja making that gigantic wall to delay the advancement of the undead horde.

Now that he was much closer to Yugakure the lone chakra signature he picked up was a lot clearer. He could sense something that wasn't there before now he was closer to it. It felt odd to him to say the least. The familiarity the chakra signature was giving off was there. He could almost recognise it now. But there was something with the chakra itself that was preventing him from doing so.

If he were to describe it, it would seem as if there was something tainting it. Like it was dying. But at the same time the chakra was regenerating itself. It was as if the person was dying but not dying at the same time. It was confusing but that description is as close as he could get.

"If my...contacts were right...then the walking dead...would need to pass...through Yugakure in order to...get to... the Land of Frost." Jiraiya said through deep breaths. After regaining his breath the toad sage stood tall and stared ahead of him. "Given that familiar chakra signature never left Yugakure, and that mysterious energy signature never appeared again, it is safe for me to assume that this mysterious group that made themselves famous in the Land of Waves are still there."

The toad sage narrowed his eyes in interest when he felt five more chakra signatures, one of them being massive in comparison to the other four suddenly appear within his senses. They came from the Land of Frost and were heading toward' Yugakure at a rapid pace.

The current Toad Sage rubbed his non-existent beard. "Hmm, I guess the one with the largest chakra out of the five approaching signatures is one of Kumo's Jinchuuriki. And with how fast their moving, I'd say all five of them would reach Yugakure about the same time as I will."

Slightly rested after taking that short break Jiraiya stretched his arms above his head with a strained groan escaping his throat. He lowered his limbs and stretched his legs to get the kinks out of the joints before continuing his chakra enhanced sprint towards Yugakure.

Meanwhile the squad Akira had made finally reached Yugito who was now a fair distance away from the border between the Land of Frost and Land of Hot Water. Yugakure was within eye-sight.

Knowing just how serious this side mission was, Akira had forgone Genin ranked ninja and got the more higher rank to join him. As harsh as it may be Akira did not need any liabilities. Yugito can be one scary bitch when she wants to be and not having well trained and experienced ninja brought with him will most likely bring out her bitchy side. Which was why the three ninja he brought with him are of Jonin and Chunin rank.

Yugito looked to her left from the corner of her eyes as she noticed Akira and the ninja he brought with him catching up to her. "Chunin and Jonin ninjas. I approve of your choice Akira." She told him when he and the three ninja were now running side by side with her. "You three tell me your names!" She ordered barkingly at the currently nameless ninja.

"I am Taiki Anno, commander! I am also known as T.A by my comrades." Taiki or T.A for short, introduced himself to his superior in a respectful manner.

"My name is Juro, commander Yugito." Juro was next to introduce himself. He kept his tone respectful and his introduction short. There was a bit of arrogance in his tone, though it was well concealed.

"My name is Kanon, Lady Yugito." Kanon the only female of the trio had introduced herself. She also held Yugito in high regard.

All three of them appear to be in their late 20s to early 30s, they all wore the standard Kumogakure uniform, consisting of a long, grey top which gathers just at their waist, giving the shirt a sash-like appearance which matching coloured bottoms. Over this they wore their white, one-strapped coloured flak jacket with the sleeves torn off at the elbow, baring their forearms to the elements.

Their forehead protectors, were either around their arms – in the case of Kanon and Juro – like an arm band and in the case of Taiki wore it around their waist like a belt.

"Taiki, Juro, and Kanon; I hope that Akira has given you three a debrief on where we're going?" Yugito asked as she redirected her attention ahead of her.

"He told us we were heading to the abandoned village of Yugakure where that mysterious energy originated from correct?" Taiki asked in a questioning tone.

Yugito nodded in confirmation. "Yes. It is essential that we reach Yugakure before the invading undead do. If you heard the rumour associated with the unknown energy, the group who appeared and made themselves known to the Five Great Hidden Villages one week ago are said to have appeared when a mysterious energy was detected just outside of the Land of Waves."

"And since the energy we detected is the same from the Land of Waves we're going there to investigate." Kanon concluded before her eyes went wide with realisation. "The mysterious five could be there!"

Yugito nodded her head in confirmation. "Yes and if we were to bring them back to help with our dilemma our chances of successfully delaying the zombies from advancing into the Land of Lightning will increase."

Juro scoffed in dismissal at that. "What makes you so sure they'll be able to help us?"

"Two weeks ago the Land of Waves was under siege nightly." Yugito began stiffly. "One week ago the 'Mysterious five' came out of nowhere, appearing on the outskirts of Wave Country. And on that same day they somehow stopped the nightly attacks." She turned to Juro in order to give him a fierce look and said in a serious tone. "Considering what they've done, along with their instruments that are a more advanced version of the kunai launchers from the Land of Spring, they will be able to help us with our dilemma."

"Everyone stop!" Kanon suddenly yelled out as she came to an abrupt halt in mid-run. Juro, Akira, Taiki and Yugito all came to an abrupt stop as well and turned to look at the kunoichi with questioning looks in their eyes. Juro looked more irritated however.

"What the heck is it Kanon? We're wasting valuable time!" Juro hissed with a scowl on his face.

"Shut the fuck up Juro and listen!" She snapped back causing the man to bristle at her in outrage. "Do any of you sense it at all?"

Yugito frowned and extended her senses. At first she found nothing but after a minute or two she discovered something unusual. It was a chakra signature in the direction of Yugakure. But instead of five like she was expecting it was one. And it felt tainted. Yugito had relayed what she had discovered to everyone else. Everyone apart from Kanon herself was surprised.

"That can't be right." Juro stated. "There should be five. Not one."

"Do you think it's a trap? Or a new type of zombie?" Taiki asked them as no one recognised the chakra and given the 'tainted' feel it was giving off, it could be a person who was unlucky enough to have been bitten. Or more frighteningly a new type of zombie.

Yugito narrowed her eyes in contemplation as she crossed her arms beneath her bust. "The likelihood of this being a trap is high. Time is against us here. In the likelihood that this is a trap fall back immediately. No questions asked. Do all of you understand?"

"I understand."

"Yeah."

"Got it."

"We fall back, no questions asked. Understood commander Yugito."

"Good. Let's move out!"


	5. Chapter 4

Dead Rising

Chapter 4

_This... this was insane. People were dying everywhere. The armed guards stationed throughout the facility were getting overwhelmed and devoured by the zombies that were somehow set loose. The screams. Oh the screams. There were so, so many of them. The siren that was sounding off in the background sounded like it was being drowned out by the screams. _

_The second Naruto and the others heard the screams and the siren going off Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo immediately banded together and pressed themselves up against the door to keep it shut when zombies began bashing themselves against it in an attempt to get in the room. Naruto on the other hand was looking under the mattress of his bed for a makeshift weapon he had smuggled in weeks ago. _

_He pulled out four combat knifes from beneath the mattress; he was lucky enough to have gotten these from how tight security was lately. These were stolen from soldier's who were unlucky enough to have been bitten by zombies who went berserk during the months they started experimenting on them. No one commented on where the knifes went. They never paid attention to bodies for some strange reason. _

_Smiling grimly at the knifes Naruto stood up and turned halfway to look at the others who were trying, and failing to keep the door closed. Eyes narrowing Naruto turned around completely and made his way to the others. _

"_Takeo, Nikolai, Dempsey." He called to them prompting them to turn around halfway while keeping their weight against the door. He held the combat knives out to them hilt first."Take this, they'll make killing those fuckers easier."_

"_Where'd you get those?" Dempsey asked in complete astonishment as he and the others took the knives from Naruto. _

"_Stole them. They do tend to forget with dead people trying to bite your own head off." Naruto easily responded. It was pretty easy stealing when the person you took the knife from was already dead._

"_Just so we're clear on this: does anyone know how to kill something that is already dead?" Dempsey asked as he wanted to know if anyone excluding himself knows how to kill something that is already dead._

"_I have seen Germans shoot hell spawn in head. Maybe we stab them there they will die for good, no?" Nikolai answered before grunting in exertion when the door almost gave in on them._

"_That is something I too have seen from these, disgracefur peopre." Takeo said his thick Japanese accent replacing the L's with his R's in his sentence. He bared his teeth in frustration as he felt his feet slip against the floor. "When I get out of here I wirr send these herr demons back from wince they came!" _

"_And I'll help!" Naruto exclaimed as he joined in, on trying to keep the door closed. "And as for me knowing how to kill them? Yes. I know how to put them down. Shooting or stabbing them in the head seems to do the trick."_

_The four of them tensed up and held their breath when they heard gunfire close by. The zombies on the other side of their door stopping banging against it and walked towards the sound. The group heard the zombies stumbling away while at the same time the gunfire got closer and closer before it cut off abruptly. The gunfire started up again followed by the deathly wails of the undead shortly after. _

_Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Naruto shared a look with one another before they cautiously opened the door enough for one of them to peek outside. When they saw that the coast was clear the door opened completely. Takeo cautiously leaned his head out of the doorway and looked in both directions. _

"_You see anything?" Dempsey whispered._

"_The path is crear." Takeo replied stoically. "This is our chance to arm ourserves against these demons." With that said and done Takeo beckoned the others to follow him as he cautiously moved out of the room and into the corridor. _

"_Fucking hell..." Naruto heard Nikolai and Dempsey say lowly in shock. _

_The corridor looked something out of a horror. The walls were sprayed with fresh blood either from zombies who were gunned down, or by the soldiers and scientists who weren't lucky enough to escape from them. Piled together on the floor are bodies of zombies, soldier's and scientists with chunks of flesh spread across the ground around and among them._

_There was a trail of blood that led outside to their left and and their right a trail of bloodied footprints led to a staircase. Naruto tore his eyes away from the disturbing scene and looked in both directions. _

_They now have a choice; if they went outside there is a chance they would find a survivor(s) to join up with. But the likelihood of them encountering zombies is increased and with them being armed with only combat knives they won't survive for long. If they went up the staircase there is a good chance they will run in to more zombies' and would be forced to fight them with only a knife to kill them with. _

_However they all have been taken through the entire facility enough times they were able to discover rooms that contained weapons. However since they have been injected with doses of Element 115 regularly remembering where these rooms are is going to be the difficult part._

_Seeing as they needed weapons they all made their way to the staircase. It would be on their weapons search that they would have their fated encounter with the future antagonist Doctor Edward Richtofen and team up with him in an attempt to 'save' the world._

X.X.X.X

In the Land of Hot Water, the former Hidden Village Yugakure one hour later...

As the newly arrival Jiraiya walked through one of the many empty streets of Yugakure, he could not help but feel dismayed at the piss poor condition he found it in. Mould. Erosion. Decay and more. This is what he saw. The former Hidden Village was well known for its hot-springs and its sights. Not it was reduced to a shadow of its former self.

As he came to the bridge leading to the Land of Frost he saw the Kumo team he had detected a while ago appear on the opposite end.

He snorted in amusement; he was right about what he thought a little while back when he was still making his way here. The group that were heading to Yugakure did arrive around the same time as he did. He noted with a small amount of surprise that the largest chakra signature out of them all was one of Kumogakure's strongest Jonin and second Jinchuuriki, Yugito Nii.

"What the- Jiraiya of the Sannin?! What are you doing here?" Konon asked in surprise. It wasn't everyday you meet a legendary figure like the Toad Sage of Konohagakure. He was rarely seen nowadays ever since the undead came out of nowhere three years ago.

"I came here because I was close by when I picked up an unknown energy signature that was found twice in the Land of Waves." He told them briefly while he surveyed his surroundings. "And seeing that you're here I'm going to take a guess and say you detected the unknown energy from the border between the land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost?" He asked them.

"We have." Yugito answered honestly while her comrades shared a nervous look with one another. The man's appearance alone made them nervous. Seeing as he had personally trained the Fourth Hokage himself, and they knew the man in front of them was in a league of his own. "I'm going to guess that you too have detected the odd chakra signature as well?"

Jiraiya nodded in confirmation. He wasn't surprised they found out about the tainted chakra. He was surprised they weren't expecting him however as they should have known he was nearby the second he came within their field of range.

"Yes. I was originally on my way to help you defend the border to the Land of Frost from an undead army that recently appeared not to far from here. But when that energy appeared I had to delay my journey to investigate it. The chakra signature appeared not long after." He informed them before he started looking around again for the location of the source of the chakra signature.

Yugito, Taiki, Juro, Kanon and Akira shared a look. An unspoken question being transmitted amongst them. A minute later they all nodded simultaneously, seemingly coming to an agreement with something before Yugito stepped forward.

"With the threat of the undead looming upon us we have a limited time to be here. I suggest that we join forces so the amount of time we waste searching is lessened." The Jinchuuriki of the Two-Tailed cat offered.

Jiraiya stared at the woman contemplatively as he thought about the pros and cons of her offer.

On one hand teaming up with them would decrease the amount of time they waste searching the one time hidden village. Not to mention they would likely have more success in searching for this chakra signature together than separated.

On the other teaming up would give them a chance to back-stab him when he would least expect it. Konoha and Kumo, after three years of being allies, still have tensions between them. With the zombies running about killing everyone in their path, no one would think him going missing would be suspicious since people are being zombified by the hundreds every day.

Right now the Toad Sage didn't have much of a choice in concerning what he wanted and what he didn't want. They were both here for the same thing and with the threat of an undead army bearing down on them didn't leave them much of a choice. With that in mind he made his decision.

"The walking dead are a threat to everyone and everything in this world. And being that we are here searching for the same thing, and knowing there is an army of zombies bearing down on us, teaming up would be the ideal decision. I will accept your suggestion to join forces."

Yugito and the others looked relieved to hear that. "Do you know what we're looking for?" Taiki asked Jiraiya.

"Unfortunately not." The man replied. "The chakra signature is close by but something is keeping me from knowing the exact location."

"We're having the same problem. We know the person that owns the chakra is here within close proximity to us."

While the ninja were busy discussing on how to proceed they didn't know they were currently being watched. Dempsey was peeking out from the window on the top floor of the building he and the others had taken shelter in. From where he was right now he had a good overall view on them. Ans while they were talking loud, the distance and the wind made hearing what they were saying a little difficult. Not to mention they were to far to read lips.

It was annoying for him. Because during the few hours he and the others were here, they were laying down some traps in advanced preparation for the zombies 'eventual arrival. But because of these ass-hats coming out of nowhere they would risk setting them off! Not to mention from what little he heard from them – thank god for them speaking English – they were here looking for someone who had a 'chakra signature'.

While he may not know much about chakra in general Tank Dempsey knew that Naruto is the only person in the entire group that is able to use chakra. And if that was the case, these people would be able to find out where he is if he stays in one place for too long. Fighting them was an option, but with Naruto telling him the ninjas here are capable of defying logic that was out of the window. Not to mention Takeo and Nikolai are at the moment somewhere else in this place, setting down traps in strategic positions where they would deal the enemy the most losses.

And this left him alone with Naruto and Samantha who were busy memorising the building so they would know where the quickest exit is when shit hits the fan. If these people were looking for Naruto then there is a good chance they would be looking for himself, Takeo, Nikolai and Samantha purely by association.

If they happen to be hostile and attack, well, he'll do his dammed best to make sure that would be the last thing they do.

"Dempsey? What's going on out there?" Said man quickly raised a hand to silence Naruto before he's alert the people outside to their position. Without turning around he gestured the teenage boy to come beside him.

Narrowing his eyes in confusion Naruto did as Dempsey asked of him and went to his side. He quickly took cover underneath the windowsill when he saw people outside next to the bridge. Taking a deep breath to calm himself the whisker face teen leaned up so he could peek outside.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked in a quiet whisper.

"How the heck am I meant to know? I never seen the six of them before in my life." Was Dempsey's rhetorical response. He turned his head to the right far enough so he could see Naruto from the corner of his eye, while keeping the people outside within his field of view.

"I think they're looking for you though."

"What?! Why would they be looking for me?!" Naruto asked in a harsh whisper.

"I think it's because they somehow found out we're here." Dempsey replied in a dry tone as he returned his full gaze on the people outside. "I heard them talk about detecting a 'chakra signature' or some shit. And out of the entire group' you're the only one who can use this chakra thing they happen to be talking about."

"So what's the plan?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence. If these people could detect chakra then they can track him down no matter where he is. That can't happen.

"We need to find out what their intentions are. Since they happen to be looking for the energy thing you can use, you will have to be the one that approaches them."

"What?! Why me?!" Naruto demanded in protest.

"Because you're the only person in this group who is able to use what they're tracking moron." Dempsey bluntly stated in a no nonsense tone. When he saw Naruto about to protest again, he growled in annoyance with the boys stubbornness and quickly added, "You're smarter than this for crying out loud! What do you think is going to happen if Takeo, Samantha, or god-forbid Nikolai or myself go out there?"

Naruto thought on this and not a second later he went pale in the face. If they can track chakra then any one except him going out there would be at risk. They might come to a hasty conclusion that Dempsey, Takeo, Nikolai and Samantha are new zombie types or something.

It unlikely that will happen but, you know what they say, human stupidity knows no bounds. What's worse Nikolai and Takeo are still out there somewhere setting traps for the approaching zombies.

"Oh crap." He muttered after he looked out of the window.

"Oh crap, is right kiddo. Since you barely remember anything about this world we don't know if they need this chakra shit to live or not."

"No, not that kind of 'Oh crap!' Tank!" Naruto replied in a harsh whisper before he pointed outside in a frantic manner. "I mean, 'Oh crap, they're not out there anymore'!" He added conclusively; and

Dempsey blinked as the words slowly registered in his head before he snapped his head in the direction of the window hastily. "Shit! They were just there a second ago!"

"No, more like a minute ago."

"...Naruto, don't be a smart ass."

They knelt there behind the windowsill while keeping their breathing rate as low as possible so they are able to hear where they've gone to. Minutes went by and they heard nothing apart from their own steady breathing. It was like they weren't even there in the first place.

"So..." Naruto began, breaking the tense silence, while shifting on his knee to move to a more comfortable position. "...am I still going out there?" He asked as he glanced at Dempsey uncertainly. He did not want to go out in the open where he is open for an attack.

Dempsey nodded his head in confirmation. "Yep, you're still going out. My gut tells me their still out there somewhere. And if my hunch is right, then they'll be closer to us than we think."

As much as he didn't want to go out there he knew he had little choice no matter what he said or did. If he choose to stay then Tank Dempsey would kick his ass in gear and shove him out in the open. He did that several times in Shi No Numa when he was to tired to move. But when he collapsed the second they made it to one of the huts, that made them walk through a swamp they were forced to take it easy until he had gotten his strength back.

Richtofen the psychopathic prick that he is, said he didn't like having 'liabilities' and threatened to leave him to the walking corpses as bait. Suffice to say everyone turned their guns on the mad doctor as if to dare him to push his luck.

"Alright, Tank. I'll get my assault rifle and go outside." He sighed out in reluctance before going off to do just that. "Hopefully these so called 'ninja' won't attack me on sight." He murmured under his breath as he made his way to the M-16 assault rifle he had placed next to the doorway before making his way out of the room and down the stairs.

He had to make this quick. While he couldn't hear anything the zombies were going to be here any moment now. And knowing Takeo and Nikolai, the explosions they obtained by two of the weapon outlines – the M18 Claymore Mine and the S-mine also known as 'Bouncing Betties' – spread across the village would be placed in spots where the zombies would be likely to funnel in the most. Which to be honest was practically anywhere and everywhere. Nevertheless both these mines would be used to alert them to the presence of the zombies and kill them at the same time. It was killing two birds with one stone.

Entering the front room Naruto immediately noticed that the front door was barricaded by the bookcase. Nikolai and Takeo worked together on throwing the door that blocked them from doing so, literally out of the building. The windows were bordered up from the outside with planks. Suffice to say Samantha was able to provide them with some help, even in her exhausted state when it came to keeping zombies out of the building. She literally materialised planks out of thin air and set put them on windows of every building on the ground floor. Samantha thought the look on their faces was priceless. She had a good laugh at their expense.

Sighing a little nervously to himself Naruto made his way to the back door. These chakra users are far more experienced than he is. He did not know they could trace it; and while they did not know the exact location he was at – which was a blessing – he couldn't use his chakra ability to trace them back as he had no idea on how to do that.

He could train himself on how to do it, or get someone else to train him and to do that he would have to go to any of the five major hidden villages. But lets face it; there was no way in hell he was going to tie himself to any of them. With what little he remembers, they aren't that all advanced, and knowing how militaristic they are they would likely stop at nothing to reverse engineer or possibly replicate these weapons once they manage to get their greedy little hands on them.

He won't put it past him if these morons tried to use his team as leverage. Which is why he will not trust any of them and would keep them at arms length.

Making his way out of the back door Naruto raised his assault rifle so he would be ready to fire at a moments notice. Quickly scanning his surroundings including the rooftops, Naruto cautiously made his way to the front of the building as he kept an eye on everything around him. With chakra allowing them to do supernatural and inhuman feats these people could be anywhere. Including the rooftops. Dempsey with Samantha with him should be safe where he is. Samantha is far beyond these so called 'ninja', she would be able to take care of any of them before they could blink if they try to pull a fast one on him. Then again his assault rifle fires small projectiles that goes faster than the eye can see. He would be able to cut them down if they do try to pull one on him.

Though he hopes they aren't smart enough to put him in a choke hold from behind. He wouldn't be able to defend himself from that.

After several minutes of walking and taking several turns, and having the feeling of being watched Naruto eventually came to the fence that Dempsey kicked down and walked out in the open with his rifle raised in front of him. Stopping near a few inches away from a railing that kept people from falling down the steep cliff, Naruto lowered his rifle a little so the barrel was facing the ground and straightened as he looked around for the ninja.

They were close by. Watching him from some place he wouldn't be able to see them. He could feel it. After taking another scan of his surroundings, and coming up with nothing, Naruto tutted when he still couldn't find anyone. Scowling visibly and feeling uncomfortable at the thought of being watched Naruto decided to go for the direct approach.

"I know your here!" The blonde loudly called out his voice echoing. "I saw you! Come out, before I make you!"

For a moment Naruto thought he felt the wind suddenly pick up behind him. "Jeez, kid, calm down would 'ya?" A rough masculine said to the left of the teen. "I'm right here. No need to get violent." Upon hearing this unknown man speak all of a sudden behind him Naruto quickly spun on his feet, bringing up his assault rifle to aim at the person that had somehow snuck up on him with his knowing.

Naruto lowered his weapon slightly when he took in the man's appearance. He is a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector that had a kanji for 'Oil' engraved on it. He also has a noticeable wart on the left side of his nose. Jiraiya wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armour that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese geta, a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back.

All in all, the man was weird and frickin' awesome looking at the same time. Seeing him for the first time Naruto was getting déjà vu vibes just from looking at him. He felt like he knew the man somehow, but for the life of him he could not remember. Similar to the Wave Village.

X.X.X.X

Jiraiya while he kept his cool on the surface was inwardly having something of a panic attack. When he saw the teen stepping out of the building and got a really good look at him thought he had almost went in catatonic shock. While he dressed and acted differently, the teen looked like an older and mature Naruto. He had the eyes the whisker marks and the same spiky hair.

The Kumo ninja were just as shocked as the Toad Sage. To them the teen looked like a miniature Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash and the late Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. Both the Kumo ninja and Jiraiya had almost managed to confirm where the chakra signature was emitting from. Jiraiya knew who the boy was, and thankfully the Kumo ninja were still clueless on the boys parentage. Unsurprisingly they found the chakra signature they were tracking to be moving exactly where the boy was moving.

They saw him moving through the many alleyways of Yugakure, while keeping an eye on his surroundings for any activity before making his way to the open. Next to the bridge where they were previously in fact.

They watched as the teen lowered the odd looking launcher in his hands, and straightened himself as he took another scan of his surroundings. After a minute the teen scowled visibly before calling out in a loud demanding voice; "I know your here! I saw you! Come out, before I make you!"

Seeing the Naruto look alike call out to them in a demanding tone. Jiraiya made a quick second decision. He had to know if that teenager was actually his godson. To the shock of the Kumo ninja the Toad Sage wordlessly body flickered down off the roof and on the ground a few yards to the boys left.

"Jeez, kid, calm down would 'ya? I'm right here. No need to get violent." Jiraiya told the teen in a placating manner after he appeared on the ground next to the Naruto lookalike.

Jiraiya quickly raised his arms in a non-threatening manner, when the teen swiftly turned on the soles of his feet, while raising the advanced looking kunai launcher at him. The boy lowered his weapon slightly as he gave him a full body look over. While the boy did that Jiraiya did his own examination on the boys appearance.

On his upper boy the teenage boy wore a light green jacket, with the sleeves rolled up to show off his bare arms. Underneath the jacket he wore a short sleeved low-cut black shirt. Clipped around his shoulder was a hand arm holster containing an engraved M1911 that had a silver cameo on it. The hand arm holster itself was located at the right side of his waist for easy access. For his lower body the teen wore olive coloured trousers, and a pair black boots dirtied with mud and the dried blood of zombies. Strapped around his waistline was a belt with two medium sized pouches on it.

"Those are most likely containing projectiles like kunai or shuriken." Jiraiya incorrectly stated under his breath incoherently. Not knowing those pouches contained magazines for Naruto's M-16 assault rifle and M1911.

He was what Naruto would've looked like when he was older. He had the same coloured eyes as his godson although they were dulled than he remembered. The three whisker marks are there on both his cheeks. But that was where the comparison ended. He was calm and in control of himself while the Naruto he knew was brash and exuberant.

Jiraiya was taken out of his thoughts when the boy started with squinted eyes. "You... you look familiar." The boy slowly said with squinted eyes much to his shock. "I think I saw you somewhere before. But I can't quite remember. I think I saw you at a place that had a lot of steam."

Jiraiya stared at the boy with wide eyes. While the boy admitted he doesn't quite remember, what he said almost confirmed his identity for him. Those last words at the end no one else, apart from his late teacher knew he had met and trained with Naruto for the first time at Konoha's Hot Springs.

But he had to know. "What's your name?" He asked while he slowly made his way over to the teenager. He immediately stopped moving and raised his hands when the teenager raised his weapon at him.

"Don't. Move." Naruto firmly told the man with a fierce stare.

"Ok. Ok, no need to get violent kid." Jiraiya said calmly before he slowly lowered his arms. "I just wanted to know your name is all." He added after his arms were at his sides.

"Why do you want to know my name?" Naruto demanded hotly.

"Because you said I looked familiar to you, and, you have claimed to have seen me before." He told the teen. "And for me you look exactly what someone I knew three years ago would appear if he wasn't missing now. Not to mention your chakra signature is very familiar."

Naruto stared hard at the man; the déjà vu vibes from before acting up again. Then he winced as he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. And just like that he remembered who this man is. Jiraiya a perverted man who happens to be a living breathing legend in the Elemental Nations, whose origins come from Konohagakure. He had found the man peaking at women from behind a fence in a hot spring he was brought to by someone in black clothing and glasses, before proceeding to knock the said man out.

He suddenly started chuckling to himself shaking his head and lowering his assault rifle completely. While he doesn't like people from Konohagakure in general he knew he could trust this man. Doesn't mean he'll let him get close enough to touch him though.

"I remember who you are now." The blonde began, immediately capturing Jiraiya's interest. "I met you for the first time at a hot spring, when you were peeking at women from behind a fence that blocked off the women's side. You easily knocked out a creepy looking guy who wore clothes that was all black."

And that was all he remembered. He saw Jiraiya knocking out the man, and after training him to walk on water for a bit he found there was something wrong and told him to lift up his shirt. He then touched him on the stomach that had some kind of swirling tattoo on it with blue glowing fingers. Then he told him to walk on water. After that he can remember nothing else. It was blank.

"Only a few people know of that. One of them, my own teacher, is dead." Jiraiya said lowly, staring at the teen with unblinking eyes as if taking his gaze off him just for a second would make him disappear. "The other one was the man I had knocked out. Another one was one of your old teachers. And lastly there was you, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Nice to know someone from my past is around." Naruto said, giving Jiraiya a small yet confident smile. "Maybe now I can get some answers."

"Answers? Kid you're talking as if you barely remember me." Jiraiya laughed thinking Naruto was doing one of his pranks he was famous for. However that humour slowly changed to shocked disbelief when Naruto did not deny his statement. "Naruto, please tell me this is one of your pranks. Because if it is then it's not funny!" He asked pleadingly.

Naruto stared at Jiraiya incredulously. "Prank? Dude, why the fuck would I prank about something as serious as this? Because of this fucking amnesia I have had for the past 3 years I can barely remember anything about my past." He said before raising a hand. "My birthday, I don't remember." He lifted a finger to tick it off. "My age, I don't remember." His middle finger was next. "Where I was born I can barely remember." His ring finger was the next digit to go up. "I just barely remembered you a few seconds ago."

Every word Jiraiya listened to was like a punch to the gut. While he did not want to believe that his own godson and student does not remember him it did make sense. When they were still a team Tsunade once said a person with a severe case of amnesia can under go a change of personality and preferences.

Taking in his earlier analysis, the Naruto he knew was brash and exuberant. If he took what Tsunade said about amnesia and the side effects it can possibly have then the Naruto in front of him has a severe case of it. He was calm and had a mature air around him. He also seemed fairly intelligent in comparison to his previous self.

"Naruto, what do you think of the colour orange?" Jiraiya asked suddenly, wanting to know if this Naruto still thinks orange is a cool colour.

Naruto looked at the man questioningly but decided to humour him. "Orange is a nice colour to look at when the sun is going down. It's a fucking terrible colour when the tone of it on your clothes is very high though." Seeing the questioning look Jiraiya was giving him Naruto sighed and elaborated. "If you want to wear orange, make sure it is not so bright that the fucking dead can see it from miles away."

Jiraiya nodded his head as he inwardly sighed in relief. Profanity aside, his preference for the colour orange is still there only not as much as it used to be. He now hates the blaring brightness of the colour.

"So are you going to stand here and have a conversation that I cannot be bothered with? Or are you going to get the other five to come out?"

"Other five? What are you talking about?" The Toad Sage asked as he acted clueless about the Kumo ninja being called out.

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Naruto said in a flat tone. "I SAW the OTHER PEOPLE out here with you before you all suddenly vanished." He added while yelling out at certain parts to allow the Kumo ninja know that their cover was blown.

Just because he can't see them right now doesn't mean he can't let them know, that he knows that they are currently watching them from their hiding spot. Sighing Jiraiya pinched the bridge of his nose before he turned to the buildings and did the universal signal to come out.

The Kumogakure ninja came out of hiding several minutes later by body flickering Kumogakure style (which is basically lightning striking the ground they appeared at) with the kunoichi Yugito and Kanon appearing first in that order and the shinobi Juro, Akira and Taiki appearing last in the order they have been listed.

Juro tsked when he stared down at the whisker face blonde. "This is one member of the so called 'Mysterious Five'?" The ninja scoffed in arrogant, yet dismissive manner after he gave Naruto a full body scan. Looking at Naruto as if he were beneath him. "This boy doesn't look like much. I don't see how he became famous in a small amount of time."

Naruto looked at Juro with narrowed eyes. "What's the matter little boy? Didn't like me saying that? What are you going to do about it?" The man arrogantly demanded with a sneer pulling at his lips.

Yugito turned a glare at Juro. "Juro! That's enough out of-" Her reprimanding was abruptly cut when a resounding 'bang!' took everyone by surprise and made them jump figuratively jump out of their skin. Juro fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes; a large portion of his head missing.

Everyone was staring at the corpse with shocked eyes before they all redirected their gaze to the culprit. Naruto was staring at the corpse with a detached look with steam coming out of the barrel of his assault rifle.

"Naruto!?" Jiraiya shouted turning to his godson with a furious glare. "What the HELL did you do!?"

Naruto looked at the shocked Jiraiya with the same detached expression. "He was taunting me. So I killed him." He answered in a straight forward manner. Killing someone for something as petty as that is a terrible thing to do. He knows that; but there was no way in hell he was going to allow any of these ninja rejects to taunt or annoy him and get away with it without repercussions.

"You didn't have to do that though dammit!" Jiraiya shot back heatedly with his glare becoming more menacing. "The Naruto I know would never murder someone in cold blood!"

Naruto then glared up at his former teacher. "News flash Jiraiya; I am NOT the Naruto you knew. And the chances of him coming back are very, very slim." He said with his teeth bared in a nasty scowl. The blue eyed blonde then glared at the remaining four Kumo ninja and pointed his rifle at them in a threatening manner. "I'll make this clear for you all: if any of you try something, my team along with myself will put you down faster than you can fucking blink!"

Kanon while surprised at the murder of one of her comrades did not feel angry with his death. From her own personal opinion Juro had it coming. "There are others here with you?" The kunoichi questioned as she keenly scanned the buildings with squinted eyes. "You have to be lying; I can't sense any other chakra signatures."

"Of course you can't." Naruto grunted out dismissively. "Unlike you ninja rejects, who are so dependent on your chakra it's not even funny, the guys I'm with don't have it. And if they don't have it..." He trailed off allowing them to fill in the blank.

"Then we will not be able to detect them." Jiraiya concluded with restrained anger while ignoring the jab Naruto took at their profession. He was angry, no, borderline furious that his godson had murdered someone in cold blood. All because of something as petty as being taunted.

The remaining kumo ninja on the other hand were at first surprised to see Juro die in front of them but easily shrugged the surprise off. Remembering that when Juro was in front of his superiors he would be polite and well mannered. He was an arrogant son of a bitch to those below him in rank. Yugito herself when she became a fully fledged jonin saw how Juro would abuse his jonin rank in front of those who are of genin or chunin status.

Even the genin and chunin at the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost were complaining about his disrespect and abuse of rank. He had made a lot of enemies in his ninja career, and, suffice to say he would not be missed by the majority of Kumogakure's shinobi forces.

"Did you have to kill him though?" Akira asked as he stared at Juro's corpse that now had a pool of blood around the body.

Naruto turned his narrowed gaze to Akira and replied. "I didn't have to kill him. But I wanted to kill him. So I did." He narrowed his blue eyes at the kumo ninja and kunoichi's in confusion as they didn't seem to be all that upset at him killing one of their own in cold blood. "You four don't seem to be angry that I straight up killed one of your own people."

"That's because the four of us are not upset." Yugito replied as she took her eyes off the corpse. "Juro was an arrogant bastard and almost everyone back in Kumo that worked with him disliked the prick. He made a lot of enemies during his career, and so, a lot of people won't bat an eyelash at his passing. In fact I'd say you have done us a favour of killing him off yourself."

"Just like that?" Naruto and Jiraiya asked at the same time with great disbelief in their voices.

"Just like that." Yugito, Akira, Kanon and Taiki all replied concurrently. Naruto unsure of what to make of this looked at the Kumogakure ninja warily but nodded in acceptance.

"Right. Well." Naruto began, nervously clearing his throat before bringing their attention to the situation they're going to be facing at any moment. "Now that is out of the way. I take it you five already know about the zombies who are on their way here as we speak?"

"We know of them. Since they're type 1 zombies we still have enough time to try and get you and your team out of here and back to the Land of Frost before they arrive." Taiki answered.

"Now that, right there, may be a problem."

X.X.X.X

Upon hearing a voice none of them recognised the Shinoibi and Kunoichi quickly turned to meet and engage the person. They quickly halted their engagement when they finally got a look at the man.

A middle aged man was walking to them with the same weapon as Naruto's. His blue eyes had the look of a war veteran and has military cut blonde hair. His attire consisted of an open buttoned light green military grade jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Underneath he wore a black shirt with dog tags hanging loosely from his neck. A cartridge belt was over the jacket with a sheathed combat knife held securely underneath. His combat trousers which were the same colour as his jacket. His leather leggings and brown boots were covered in dry mud and blood. He had three pouches around his waistline for his guns.

Walking beside him was a teenage girl with wild and unruly dark hair who is about the same age as Naruto. Her attire consisted of a pair of dark brown trousers, a short sleeved jacket and a light purple blouse underneath. She wore a pair of shin length boots and had a combat knife, currently sheathed, strapped to her left arm for easy access. Slung over her shoulder was her MP-40 and like Naruto the girl had a belt with two medium sized pouches strapped around her waistline.

Jiraiya and the team from Kumo noticed neither of the two possessed any chakra just like Naruto said they wouldn't. They also fit the description they had received of them from Konoha. Three members of the 'Mysterious Five' were in front of them right now and two more were still unaccounted for. While their appearances may be deceiving they knew better than to pick a fight with people they have no knowledge of.

I mean look at where it got Juro. Lying on the ground with a large section of his head taken off.

Samantha tutted with her head shaking in disappointment upon seeing Juro's corpse. "Really Naruto? Are you murdering people now?" She questioned, while ignoring the stares she was getting from Jiraiya, Yugito, Kanon, Akira and Taiki for her thick German accent.

Naruto looked affronted Samantha's question. "Hey! It wasn't my fault! That one guy looked like a zombie!" He exclaimed in protest as he recounted shooting some poor homeless looking man in the head. He was splattered in guts and blood and from where he stood the man looked like a zombie. It was an easy mistake, honest! "Besides, that guy down there was pissing me off, so I stopped him from being a pain in my ass." He jerking a thumb at Juro's corpse with a look of indifference. "Besides, what I did, would have been tame to what Tank would have done in my place." He added as an afterthought.

Jiraiya was almost hesitant to ask. "What would he have done?" He did ask anyway and saw the Kumo-nin were almost interested in knowing who this 'Tank' person would have done in his godsons place.

The five all looked at Dempsey who was chuckling lowly in a sinister manner. "I would have torn his guts out and then force fed them to him." Tank said with a sneer. "I would have made him watch himself eat his intestines too, if he lived long enough that is."

The Kumo ninja and Toad Sage were staring at Dempsey with horrified looks. The image he provided was rather graphic and made them question the man's sanity. Jiraiya on the other hand was staring between Naruto and Dempsey, with worried and suspicious eyes. Worry for Naruto and suspicion for Dempsey. That look Dempsey had along with his sentence was enough to make him worry for his godson's sanity. Having amnesia with little recollection of his past, he would be easy to influence and from what he saw of the foreigner some of his influence had already gotten to Naruto.

"I'll give you a '9 out of 10' for the drama. And a '5 out of 10' for the execution." Naruto suddenly said, breaking the tense air that was around them all. The Kumo ninja plus Jiraiya stared at the two as if they were insane, as they saw he and Samantha were actually holding up score cards with numbers 9 and 5 on them respectively.

Where they had gotten them was anyone guess.

And just like a switch had been flipped, the sinister aura was gone. Dempsey stared at Naruto in disbelief. "What!? Why the hell was I given a 5!? I had them by the balls for fucks sake!" He exclaimed even as everyone was staring at the three in mounting disbelief.

Naruto raised his hands in a placating manner, his score card now gone. "Hey don't blame it on me Tank. It was Samantha who gave you the five for the execution."

"You traitor!" Samantha cried out as she looked at her friend with a look of exaggerated betrayal. She looked back at Dempsey and saw him staring at her, arms crossed, with an expectant look. "Oh, very vell..." She uttered out reluctantly, before like magic she quickly changing the card so it showed an 8 instead of 5. "I vill instead give you an 8 for zhe execution."

"That's better." Dempsey said, nodding his head with satisfaction in getting his own way.

Throughout this the ninja were staring at them in disbelief that increased with every passing second. Their thoughts were unknowingly similar to one another; wondering if the others members of the 'Mysterious Five' were like Dempsey, Samantha and Naruto. They had no idea how right on the mark they were. Considering one of them they have yet to meet is a violent alcoholic, whose antics are almost hilarious to witness once he is hammered enough; the other is a former samurai who slaughtered his entire family because they were insolent to him.

"So...Tank would not have done that then?" Kanon slowly asked as she stared at the former Marine Raider with wariness.

"What? Tear his guts out and force feed them to the guy that's dead?" When he received nods from Yugito, Akira, Kanon, Taiki and Jiraiya, Dempsey scoffed and said in a dry tone of admittance. "I would have ripped his guts out, yeah. But I wouldn't have force fed them to him. I'm not THAT sick in the head."

"You sure about that?" Naruto asked, bringing everyone's gaze back to him. "What about that time you mentioned you gnawing your way through your captors, once you escaped from a bamboo cage after gnawing your way through that."

"Don't remind me." Dempsey replied with a light scowl. "That was a major pain in my ass. My jaw was throbbing in irritation for weeks." He said rubbing a hand against his jawline. "Not to mention there was not much I could use to fight off my captors with. So I to improvise on what I had at my disposal."

"Improvise?"

Dempsey gave the kumo ninja that spoke a grim look. "Let's just say that anything and everything around you can be used as a weapon, if your imaginative enough on where to find it and how to use it and leave it at that." He answered in a tone that brokered no argument. This is true in the case of him being armed with only a bobby pin and his metal of honour, which he used against his heavily armed captors from the Imperial Army.

"Long story short: don't piss him off. You'll live longer that way." Naruto told them warningly prompting them to nod their head in understanding while they stared at Dempsey with disturbed looks on their face.

Having seen a lot of disturbing things in the past three years from an enemy that was already dead you would have thought they would be immune to such things by now. However there were things in the world that they have not seen as of yet. Meeting a small group of people who don't have a shred of chakra in them was a disturbing thought. They would be invisible to just about everyone in sight. They're just like zombies in the sense they cannot be harmed or affected by chakra based attacks.

Dempsey seeing their expression smirked darkly at them. As if he knew what they were thinking. And seeing they had somehow trailed off from their original conversation Dempsey got everyone back on track.

"We need to get back to the original point here before we got carried away." Dempsey said. "If you had planned to get us out of here with you, then I'm sorry to tell you that your mission is going to be difficult."

"Why would it be difficult? Are we not just dealing with an army of walkers?" Akira asked with a questioning look on his face.

Naruto, Dempsey and Samantha shared a look before bringing their gaze back to the ninja. "Ve had better bring you five up to speed." Samantha told them all with a serious expression. "Ve are not dealing vith valkers. Ve are now dealing vith runners or sprinters zhat came almost an hour ago."

"We also spent the past hour or so fortifying and booby-trapping the surrounding areas for the eventual confrontation with them. Seeing as they swarm from every direction they can get through we are setting traps any place we can." Naruto added.

"That explains why there are only three of you instead of five. I'm guessing the other two are setting up the traps?" Jiraiya asked oddly calm in spite of the fact he was told there was an army of possible type 2 or 3 zombies coming.

"They are. And with a lot of traps already set up we'll know when they've arrived." Naruto replied with confidence.

"How do you figure that?" Kanon asked.

As if answering her question several explosions went off in the background signalling the arrival of the zombies. Several more explosions were heard and was followed by sub-machine gun fire from Takeo and Nikolai's respective weapons. Without as much as a word Dempsey, Samantha and Naruto quickly shared a look, nodded, and as one they spun on the heels of their feet and rushed in the direction of the explosions. Their weapons were raised and ready to fire the second the zombies put themselves in their line of sight.

Jiraiya, Yugito, Kanon, Akira and Taiki meanwhile were taken by surprise at the explosions that suddenly came out of nowhere and thought they were under attack. However they all remembered being explained just a moment ago there were traps planted just for the zombies and they would know when they would arrive once they were set off.

Without a word the five of them sent chakra to their legs and leapt to the rooftops; and quickly followed Naruto, Dempsey and Samantha as they ran through the streets as more and more of their traps went off in an explosive fashion. Seeing as only Naruto has chakra they would have to keep Dempsey and Samantha within their line of sight other wise they would lose them.

Which was a lot easier considering they were on the rooftops and the three they were keeping an eye on was on the ground. Not to mention they had chakra, so they would be able to keep pace with the three zombie slayers. As they kept their pace the gunfire was getting louder and louder. The explosions were also getting closer. They could faintly hear the moans and groans of the zombies too in between the gun fire and the explosions.

Several minutes later the ninja finally came across the last remaining members of the 'Mysterious Five', who are wearing clothing just as outlandish as the other three. The two of them were working together in fighting off the zombies and are slowly being pushed back into a corner. In front of them was a large pile of corpses that had most of their torsos' torn off, revealing their rib-cages and intestines, their limbs ripped off by bullets. Their heads were blown off their shoulders' too showing how deadly rapid fire from their automatic weaponry are.

However despite how many zombies the two of them killed they were close to having their position being overrun. Naruto, Samantha and Dempsey once they found their comrades being close getting overwhelmed quickly stopped moving, took aim and unloaded on the walking corpses. This effectively brought most of the hordes' attention away from Nikolai and Takeo and on to them.

The zombies which were revealed to be a combination of Type 2's and 3's, were able to close the distance to their new found targets at a shocking pace before they were cut them themselves from the Naruto's, Samantha's and Dempsey's combined firepower.

Narrowing his eyes as the zombies made their way to his godson, Jiraiya quickly went through hand seals for one of his offensive techniques, and using his chakra he changed his saliva into oil before he leapt off the rooftop and on top of another building on the other side as he spat the oil out of his mouth.

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!" He bellowed out as he used his chakra to ignite the oil before landing on the other building safely.

Naruto, Dempsey and Samantha were taken by complete surprise as they saw a massive torrent of flames come out of nowhere from the sky and completely engulf the zombies approaching them within seconds. However knowing from personal experience they weren't dead, and would still move even if they were on fire, the five continued unloading their magazine in the flames; even as they listened to the zombies 'screams.

Fire Style: Flame Bullet acted similar to the flame-thrower. Once you're caught in the oil, the flames would continue to burn you until you manage to put the fire out. Considering how difficult it is to put out an oil enhanced flame, it only takes a matter of seconds for someone who was unlucky enough to get caught in it to die from having their skin literally melt off of their bones.

Given how zombies ignore their injuries as if they weren't even there, flame-throwers were not as effective on them as they are to living things. Not to mention it takes a bit of time for the zombies to drop dead. It is the same case here. However while the oil-enhanced fire didn't kill them, the flames had done enough damage to the zombies that they were easily taken down by the advanced weaponry of Takeo and Dempsey, Naruto and Samantha and Nikolai than they normally would have.

Jiraiya seeing as he took out the horde that were heading towards his godson turned his attention to the rest that were intent on overwhelming Takeo and Nikolai. Quickly going through the same hand seals for Fire Style: Flame Bullet, he spat the oil out of his mouth and on the undead that were funnelling their way through the alleyway they were coming from and ignited the oil while loudly calling out the name of his technique once more.

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!" The flames like the last time had completely consumed the zombies within seconds. And since they were all coming in from one direction it served as an ideal barrier to burn any other undead that attempted to get out of the alleyway. They were easily cut down by Takeo and Nikolai who had just finished reloading their sub-machine guns and provided more fuel for the fire to burn.

Dempsey, Naruto and Samantha coughed and covered their noises as their nostrils were overtaken by the smell of rotting, burning flesh.

"Holy shit." This came from Tank Dempsey as he, Naruto and Samantha stared wide eyed at Jiraiya using his ninja skills to utterly decimate the zombies within seconds. Blinking his eyes repeatedly Tank brought his gaze to Naruto. "Okay I know you said these people are able to defy logic, but how are they are losing ground to these freak-bags if they're able to do that!?" From start to finish Dempsey's tone changed from shocked to incredulous, with his facial expression matching the second tone as he wildly gestured to the carnage in front of them.

Naruto looked between Dempsey and the burning corpses. "I have no clue. Three years is a long time Tank; you have to remember these zombies, are likely not affected by most chakra based techniques the ninja here are capable of. Not to mention they changed minutes after Samantha detected them. It's like they 'changed' when they were discovered..."

Seeing the contemplative look on the teens' face Dempsey frowned as he turned to glare at the burning corpses. "These flesh addicts are like the ones back home." He growled. And for them that was a very bad thing.

"Yeah. Seems so. And we all know how THAT turned out." Naruto said softly remembering how they, by the persuasion of Ludvig Maxis, blew up the Earth in an attempt to deduce the amount of zombies' Richtofen would be able to control. Only to make things worse by almost destroying the planet itself and breaking it into several large pieces.

"Then lets hope it vill not come to zhat." Samantha told them before staring at the burning zombies in front of her with a thoughtful look.

She was wondering just what caused them to start running all of a sudden. Having zombies running at you before you did anything? That wouldn't happen unless there was something out there to buff them. If that is the case then they are dealing with a Type 6 zombie(s). She should know. She made George A. Romero into a Type 6 zombie in Siberia to fight against those actors who had inadvertently helped Richtofen in dooming the world.

One of Romero's few special abilities was being able to turn runners to sprinters by just yelling. He could also buff up their attacks by giving them electricity to give them an extra kick when they attack.

If they are dealing with one of those, then killing it is going to be very difficult. And the weapons they have at the moment will not do a thing to them. They will need some powerful weapons to take them on.

"Something on your mind?" Dempsey asked, seeing the thoughtful expression on the girls face.

Samantha nodded her head in confirmation. "I think ve are dealing vith more than valkers and sprinters." She said looked up at Dempsey with narrowed eyes. Seeing the prompting look he was giving her Samantha continued. "Ve may be dealing vith a type 6 as vell."

"A Type 6? Like those fucking astronaut zombies you were sicking at us on the moon?" Dempsey asked as he observed the flaming in front of himself, Samantha and Naruto finally dying out. He gestured Naruto and Samantha to follow him as he walked through the dying flames while talking. "Those meat-sacks are tough to kill. If one of those wankers are here, we'll need better gear to take them on."

"You need to take what on?" Jiraiya asked as he landed in front of them in a crouch to absorb the impact of the leap he took from the rooftop. Behind the three Yugito and her comrades landed on the ground from their leap off the rooftops.

"We believe there is another zombie type here, instead of runners and sprinters." Dempsey replied with a roll of his shoulders.

"What makes you think that?" Taiki asked with curiosity.

"Walkers without outside interference do not suddenly run." Takeo expertly said as he approached the assembled group, while joining in the conversation at the same time. Nikolai was following him, while keeping a close eye on the flame barrier with his PPSh-41 in case the zombies try to make another attempt at getting in. "Therefore the actions of a powerful enemy is at work." The Samurai concluded as he and Nikolai stopped in front of the group.

"Nice to see you kept yourself alive Takeo." Naruto said with a smile that was filled with relief.

"It will take more than an army of dishonourable demon spawn, to defeat a warrior such as I." Takeo replied back with a smile of his own.

Nikolai scoffed lightly at Takeo's boasting as he checked the drum magazine for his PPSh-41, but never said anything. Takeo scowled lightly as he briefly glanced at the Soviet before redirecting his attention to the ninja in front of him.

"Are these people who came from the large wall?" He asked Naruto and Dempsey and Samantha in a questioning manner; referring to the large concrete wall that appeared at the border between the Land of Frost and the Land of Hot Water.

"These five did." Replied Tank as he gestured to Yugito, Akira, Kanon and Taiki respectively. "This guy on the other hand did not." He added jerking a thumb to Jiraiya. "Apparently he and Naruto knew one another from before."

"What is his relationship with Uzumaki?" Takeo suddenly asked in a demanding manner, all the while he was glaring dangerously at Jiraiya who was alarmed at Takeo's sudden aggressiveness. Even Nikolai had stopped what he was doing to glare at the 54 year old man.

The four of them know a little of Naruto's past treatment in his home. It wasn't surprising for Naruto to see the two of them get a little aggressive and protective of him.

"Well..." Dempsey and Samantha trailed off at the same time as they turned to look at Naruto.

"...What? Why are you lookin' at me for?" Naruto asked in bewilderment upon seeing Tank and Samantha staring at him expectantly. He blinked in confusion and his expression became flat when Samantha pointed at him and then at Jiraiya. "Oh for gods- I can barely remember him. But with what memories I have regained, that man-"

"Jiraiya." The man corrected.

"-I mean Jiraiya is someone who once taught me before everything went to hell. He isn't like the majority of those people in the Village Hidden in the Leafs that ignored me and acted as if I didn't exist." Naruto stated to them with honesty in his voice while correcting himself by adding Jiraiya's name.

"In case you need help Nikolai I'll dumb things down for you: the oddly dressed looking guy used to teach Naruto; and isn't like the rest of the people in his birth place." Dempsey added for Nikolai's benefit. He knew the drunk would need someone to dumb things down otherwise he would likely not understand.

Nikolai squinted his eyes at Dempsey for a moment before redirecting his gaze to Jiraiya. After several minutes of nerve wrecking silence the alcoholic nodded his head in acceptance. "Okay. That is good. I won't have to kill him like I did to second wife." Nikolai said with bluntness.

"Second wife...? What happened to the first?" Yugito asked as she stared at Nikolai with a wary expression.

"Killed that bitch by blowing her head off! Bang! Her fucking head exploded and went everywhere!" Nikolai exclaimed as he did a fairly poor mimic of someone having their head blown off their shoulders before laughing uproariously at the memory.

Dempsey and Samantha, Takeo and Naruto did not bat an eyelash at Nikolai's admittance. "Funnily enough Nikolai was married nine times. And he murdered at least five of them. Rather brutally I might add." Dempsey said with a pointed smile.

"Those were good times." Nikolai said, reminiscing to himself about the times he had murdered his wives for any viable reason. From being a bitch to him to being annoying.

There was an awkward silence as the ninja stared at Nikolai warily. Yugito and Kanon were very disturbed when they learnt Nikolai actually enjoyed killing five of his wives in a brutal manner. While they knew these people had no chakra to use, they couldn't underestimate them either as they saw the five of them killing zombies with their advanced kunai launchers with efficiency. Not to mention Juro had most of his head missing when Naruto shot him. Being beside Naruto when he fired his M-16, Jiraiya didn't see any projectiles coming out of the gun's barrel, nor did he see the projectile connecting with the man's head.

Underestimating these people because of their lack of chakra would be the worst thing they could do right now. They make up their lack of chakra for the effectiveness of their guns.

Seeing as the awkward silence was making the ninja nervous Dempsey quickly asked Takeo and Nikolai. "So, did you two find anything of use out here?"

"Found a perk machine. The one that gives us increased strength or something?" Nikolai answered before trailing off at the end in confused thought.

"Increased strength? Don't you mean Juggernog?" Naruto asked.

"Dah! Juggernog Soda! That was the one!" Nikolai said. "Found it in building over there!" He added as he pointed to the building in question.

The structure is a two floor house. The windows on the ground floor are boarded up just like every other building in Yugakure. And like all the other buildings in this place the outside of the structure is covered in fungus and was being corroded by the exposer to time. Beside the fire was the wall of flames that was still burning thanks to the brainless undead that are stupid enough to try and run through the flames, while stepping over the burning bodies of the formerly walking corpses that were cut down by Takeo's and Nikolai's combined fire power.

Dempsey as he followed the direction Nikolai was pointing wondered why hadn't the fire spread to the other buildings yet. Then he remembered it was a part of what he had dubbed 'plot convenience'. What this meant is you can't expect things you think would happen to actually happen because of the story plot.

Why? Because fuck logic!

"There is also a weapon outline within as well." Takeo added when Nikolai wasn't going to include the other discovery.

A gun outline? That is a relief! There was no way he was going to pass up on getting a new weapon! If the pattern was the same then this outline should either be an M-14 battle rifle or an Olympus shotgun. "If that's the case I'll check it out." Dempsey loudly declared before running off toward the building without a care in the world. The crew knew better though. Dempsey is always keeping an eye on his surroundings. Always listening for the slightest disturbance even when it looks like he isn't.

"What is a 'weapon outline'?" Taiki questioned as he watched Dempsey quickly running up to the building and entering it. He unknowingly voiced the thoughts of everyone that was not part of the dubbed 'Mysterious Five'. "Also, what is a Perk Machine?" He added as an afterthought.

"A 'weapon outline' is a chalk outline on a wall. We use them to either change our weapons for something more powerful, or we can use them to resupply ourselves when we're running low on ammunition."

Takeo seeing Naruto wasn't going to continue speaking picked up where the teenager left off. "A Perk Machine, is a mechanical device that grant us abilities that increase our chance of survival against these unholy demon spawn."

That had instantly gotten their attention. "When you say abilities, what do you mean by that exactly?"

"It depends." Naruto began after giving Takeo a pointed look. "There are a lot of them. The one Nikolai mentioned kind of acts like a flak jacket. Juggernog soda once you drink it boosts our endurance to let us stay on our feet longer."

"Can you tell us of any others?" Jiraiya asked, as he began to think of a way to find these 'perk machines' and get them to Konoha. From what he was told of this Juggernog and what it is capable of, it is to much of an asset to ignore and if these other perks provided similar effects then it is crucial that he gets them to Konoha to replicate and reproduce.

Naruto turned and stared at Jiraiya with an unreadable look on his face. "I could. But I won't." He told the man in a firm tone that brokered no argument.

"What? Why!?" Jiraiya demanded in exclamation. "They can be a major asset to the Hidden Villages and give us a better fighting chance in combating the walking dead!" The kumo ninja excluding Yugito were nodding their heads in agreement.

The reason Yugito wasn't was because she felt there was something more to these perk machines than Naruto was letting on. She had proved herself right right when Naruto answered, "Because if I tell you, then you will want them to be placed in the Hidden Villages where everyone can gain access to them. Sadly for you there is a chemical inside the drinks that can kill you if the person is not immune to it."

He was referring to Element 115. The perk machines were developed with Element 115 as the core ingredient. Originally the perk machines were meant to be manufactured by Group 935 and distributed to the front lines, in the late year of 1943 to aid the German War Machine. After several experiments it was discovered that 4/10 people that drunk from the soda bottles became sick and would eventually die almost two weeks later.

Those who survived were able to do things they were unable to do before. Such as being able to drop to the ground from a lethal height and walk it off as if nothing had happened, being able to dive to the ground from a tall place and letting out a lethal explosion around you once you touched the ground, to being able to heal people twice as fast than you normally are. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on which side of the war you were on, the distribution of these perk bottles was cancelled because the losses were unacceptable to Adolf Hitler the Führer of Nazi Germany. Since then the perk machines were only found in places Group 935 were once located.

The others were taken aback by the revelation. There was something in the drinks that could potentially kill them?! "Please tell me that isn't true, Naruto. I'm begging you to tell me that it isn't true!" Jiraiya said pleadingly to his godson.

"It is true." Naruto replied with a sigh much to the dismay of Jiraiya. "But I along with Takeo and Dempsey, Samantha and Nikolai have been drinking the stuff for three years and we're still alive and kicking." That was a partial lie of course; Samantha got with them recently but she too was immune to Element 115.

Not to mention it worked best with people who are immune to the negative effects of Element 115. Before Dempsey was captured and experimented on by Group 935 it was proven that he was immune to the soda's negative effects. Proven when he and his recon team had used the perks in Verruckt when they were sent to recover Peter McCain.

Jiraiya sighed in frustration. That was a major kick to the balls if he ever saw one. Those sodas with the advantages they had would've benefited them greatly in this war with the undead. However, with them losing more and more people every day, and having them to lose even more people because of the sodas' it is not worth the risk.

If only there was a way to know who is immune and who isn't. Then they would be able to minimise the loses they take. Jiraiya blinked his eyes as he came to realise something. "What a minute; how can there be perk machines if they weren't here during the several times' I came past this place?"

Naruto and Samantha, Takeo and Nikolai all gazed at one another in awkward silence. Something that was not missed by the ninja around them.

X.X.X.X

When Dempsey made his way through the door and into the building he immediately began his search for the Juggernog machine and the chalk outline. The chalk outline was the first thing to be found. It is on the wall in the worn down front room where Dempsey literally walked in the second he came through the front door.

He was a little annoyed when he found out the chalk outline was for a sidearm. He didn't know what type it was though. Though it was a little different than anything else he had seen...

The Juggernog machine was located elsewhere. Out the back where he would be exposed to being attacked from behind annoyingly enough. Knowing having more effective fire-power was a must right now Dempsey went to change his sidearm first. Knowing his Colt. M1911 would be ineffective against the likes of runners and sprinters.

Walking in front of the chalk outline the former United States marine slung his M-16 over his shoulder and pulled out his M1911 out of its holster, knowing if he didn't he would lose his assault rifle and gain a new side arm in its place. And he did not want that to happen.

Sighing Dempsey placed his palm flat against the chalk outline. He felt the familiar energy being taken from his body as he purchased his new weapon, and his M1911 being taken and quickly replaced. Looking down at his hand that held his new weapon Dempsey was surprised to see a Remington Model 1858 revolver in his grip. A weapon that has not seen action since the Franco-Prussian war back in the late 1900s.

He was one of the few people that used this weapon in the First World War. It was a reliable weapon and then it was replaced by the more advanced sidearms such as the Colt. M1911. Nevertheless, the revolver sidearms are easily the most powerful weapon you can have. Except for the wonder weapon known as The Ray Gun. That sidearm is in a class of its own and trumps all other weaponry apart from other Wonder Weapons.

Nodding in approval Dempsey skilfully twirled the Remington revolver in his palm before putting it in the holster that has conveniently changed to fit it. Dempsey long ago stopped questioning why the holsters would change every time he gained a new sidearm. It was deemed best if no one thought on it because no one knows how it was possible in the first place.

With his new sidearm acquired Dempsey made his way through the building and out the back garden where the Juggernog machine lay. The machine is thin with a red and white paint job. On the front, on the top white half had the quote "Drink Juggernog." in bold letters. On top is a circle that that has a image of a shield with a medic symbol with a bullet crossing over it. The Juggernog machine was up against the wall to his left.

Smiling to himself Dempsey made his way over to the machine and spent the needed amount of currency he had built up from the recent zombie kills.. He hummed to the jingle that would activate every time someone bought a soda from it.

While Dempsey was busy getting the bottle from the machine, he never noticed something climbing its way over the fence and into the garden and slowly make its way over to him. It was a skinny looking thing, and had some human characteristics to it. However it was mutated to the degree where it bared little resemblance to humans at all. The creature when moving would use all four of its limbs like an animal, where its fingers and toes would be now had claws in their place. It had a slimy, greenish grey shade of skin and wore only a pair of torn black trousers. It had no eyes and taking up most of its face was an over-sized angler mouth that showed a row of shark like teeth.

It was constantly emitting a faint trail of green gas. This is what is known as a Gas crawler. A type 5 zombie that releases a special toxic gas that can disorientate you and kill other zombies upon its death. There is another type 5 zombie that has its exact appearance. It is known as the Phasing zombie that can literally teleport in front of you without warning.

Sniffing the air as he drank from the bottle Dempsey narrowed his eyes as he picked up a nasty scent he had not smelt since that Theatre in Germany. Taking one last mouthful Dempsey took the bottle away from his lips and looked to his left from the corner of his eyes. Suddenly Dempsey spun around and threw the bottle the bottle at the crawler who tried to sneak up on him. The bottle hit its mark, smashing to pieces when it collided with the crawlers face the pieces cutting into its face and mouth.

The crawler roared in anger as it staggered back using one of its hands to claw at its face in an attempt to remove the glass pieces from its mouth and face, only to make it worse than before. With a deep scowl pulling at his lips Dempsey took his Remington Model Army revolver out of its holster, took aim and pulled the trigger. The Gas zombie let out a death like roar as the bullet entered through the front of its head tearing through it and exiting through the back like paper. Its last action was to flip on its back, curling itself up similar to a spider, and release a cloud of green gas.

Having been on the receiving end of that fucking gas many a times in the past Dempsey quickly backed away while covering his mouth and nose with his free hand. With the other he was using his revolver as he scanned his surroundings for any other gas zombies since his previous battle experience with them showed they like to travel in packs.

Dempsey narrowed his eyes even further as he heard more gas zombies roaring out challengingly nearby. Snarling aggressively Dempsey used the hand that was covering his mouth and nose to unsheathe his combat knife now that the green coloured gas was finally gone, and with the hand that was holding the revolver, he aimed in the direction of the fence just as several crawler zombies climbed over it. Getting down to one knee Dempsey knew he had to play this smart. The others would have heard the gun shot and would assume he was test firing it. They would come running if he fired more than once. Right now he only has five rounds left in the cylinder, and there are more gas zombies than he has bullets chambered. Not to mention the gas they let out once their dead can disorientate him if he breathes it in.

The second the first zombie came in his line of fire he pulled the trigger. The bullet went through the front and out the back of its head with little resistance. The zombie fell back off the fence, letting out a death howl. He saw the green gas raise up past the fence even as more and more crawlers appeared. He shifted his arm to take aim at the next crawler and pulled the trigger, firing the third bullet.

The crawler fell off the fence and to the ground where it landed on its back and curling up before the gas expelled from its body. Unlike the zombies that would die if they were close to the gas when it was expelled crawling zombies are unaffected by the gas as they're immune to it. Dempsey fired another three times, two of them hitting their intended destination while the third hit its one on the shoulder, dislocating it from its socket. Growling the marine slashed and stabbed his knife at the crawlers that managed to get to him. Easily killing them with a stab to the skull. The crawlers did flip to their back and curl up on itself, but did not expel the dangerous gas.

Getting to his feet Dempsey took a quick glance over his shoulder as he backed away from the approaching crawling zombies, to see where he was going and to make sure he doesn't accidentally pin himself down. At the same time he pulled the cylinder out of its slot and turned the gun upwards so the barrel was facing toward' the sky. The empty bullet cartages easily fell out the cylinder and to the ground and was quickly replaced by a new six ones. The cylinder was then pushed back in the slot and was now ready to fire once more.

By this time Dempsey who had to take a quick glance over his shoulder every few seconds because he was backing away was already forced in the house. He took aim at the crawlers who were funnelling their way into the building through the one doorway with his revolver and taking precise aim so the crawlers were lined up he pulled the trigger. The bullet of the Remington revolver tore through the crawlers with little to no resistance.

"Fucking creepy crawlers." Dempsey cursed under his breath with hatred of the things lathing his voice. Sheathing his knife Dempsey grabbed a grenade, pulled out the pin and drew his arm back and held it there. "Let's see how they'll like this!"

Three seconds later Dempsey with all his might tossed the grenade through the doorway and into the crowd of crawlers that were making their way to the house. Two more seconds later the grenade exploded. Taking the crawlers with it. If the others didn't hear his gun firing then they had to have heard the grenade going off!

If they haven't then he was going to tear them a new one!

Tutting with annoyance at seeing more and more crawlers coming at him, even after he threw a fucking grenade at them, Dempsey quickly put his revolver in its' holster and grabbed his M-16 that was hanging harmlessly from the sling. Scowling the former marine got down on one knee as he raised his rifle so the butt of the gun was pressing against his shoulder, took aim down the sights and burst fired into the crowd of crawlers.

He heard footsteps rapidly approaching his position even as he burst fired on the crawlers that were determined on getting inside the building. Dempsey sharply looked towards his left when sub-machine gun fire was heard. Right there standing in front of the doorway, leading to the front room was Takeo Masaki himself, his Type 100 firing on the crawlers with no mercy.

Nikolai was there standing beside the Asian, unloading his entire drum magazine on the crawling zombies. He had a deep, fierce scowl pulling at his lips that showed his deeply engrained hatred for them.

Naruto, Samantha and the ninja were nowhere in sight. They were unknowingly to him ditched by Takeo and Nikolai who left them to appease the curiosity of the ninja as to how there are perk machines in Yugakure when they weren't there before. They would have stayed and help explain to them, but, being the helpful men that they were they decided to leave the responsibility of answering their questions to Naruto and Samantha while they went off to help Tank fighting off the zombies.

"You both took your time in getting here!" Dempsey yelled over the gun fire as he sidestepped his way over to them. He took the opportunity to replace the used magazine for a new one now that Takeo and Nikolai were taking the pressure off of him.

"Where did these fucking things come from American?" Questioned Nikolai, who also yelled over the gun fire as he changed out his now empty drum magazine for a full one for his PPSh-41.

Dempsey growled in anger. "I dunno. I saw them climbing over the fence after I finished drinking from the bottle." He loudly replied even as he was standing directly beside the two men. "We gotta back off and regroup with Naruto and Samantha now that these creepy crawlers are here."

"Indeed. Being able to scale over any surface would make them difficult foes for those which have not encountered them." Takeo said in agreement as he referred to the ninja with Naruto and Samantha.

While those shinobi and kunoichi have faced zombies for the past three years, it is still possible they have not encountered these type 5 zombies yet. If these crawlers are like the phasing zombies they had faced on the moon then they were going to have problems. Being able to expel a gas that disorientates you once it is inhaled after they die is complete and utter bullshit. Then again the possible reason they didn't die when they inhaled the gas could be because they're immune to it.

Think about it; all zombies in existence – they have thus far fought – were made by the exposure to Element 115. The Wonder Weapons, such as the Ray Gun, the Wunderwaffe DG-2, the Thunder Gun, the Gersch device, the Winter's Howl all of these weapons were made by Element 115. The Perk Machines was made with Element 115. Takeo, Nikolai and himself, along with Naruto and Samantha were experimented on by Group 935 with Element 115 and had no negative side effects – like death and reanimating as a zombie – affecting them. Mostly. Everyone excluding Samantha had suffered from a severe case of amnesia, but were otherwise as healthy as a horse.

There is a pattern going on here. You'd have to be blind to not see it.

Taking a few pot shots at one of the crawlers that got through the doorway, Dempsey and Takeo and Nikolai backed themselves up in the front room while supporting one another and keeping the crawling zombies from advancing.

"Speaking of which why aren't Naruto and Samantha with us?" Dempsey asked when he finally took notice of their absence.

"The ninjas' were asking questions on where perk machines came from. So we ditched the two and left them both to answer their questions while we came to help." Was Nikolai's straight forward answer.

Dempsey stared at Takeo and Nikolai with a bland look. "So in essence you threw them both to the wolves." He flatly said to them before bringing his gaze back to the crawlers and opening fire on them. The three were slowly forced to back away when the green gas began to spread through the room before dispersing into the air.

Nikolai took a moment to think on his answer. "Da! We have!"

Dempsey had an eye twitching at the answer while Takeo rolled his eyes in annoyance. The zombies were still getting in the house. Crawling over the corpses of their own unhindered. They're speedy little buggers. And could cross several yards in less than 15 seconds. It was as if the bodies weren't even there.

Even as the crawlers were dying to them Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai were getting pushed back nonetheless. The green gas just helped speed things along in the crawlers favour. Getting sick of their relentless pursuit Nikolai pulled out a grenade, cooked it and threw it in front of the crawlers before turning tail and run.

Takeo and Dempsey saw the grenade being thrown in front of the crawlers. Instantly the two turned on the heels of their boots and booked it out of there just as Nikolai turned and ran away. And because they weren't sure of the stability of the house, the three of them made their way out the front to Naruto, Samantha and the ninjas' just as the house exploded.

Then the building collapsed on itself with a cloud that was filled with smoke and ash raised around it. Everyone in the vicinity all stared at the collapsed building with their eyes widened in disbelief and shock, before redirecting their gaze on Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey who were in front of said collapsed building. Their backs to them.

Slowly the three turned around and slowly walked away. "...I think throwing grenade was overdoing it a little?" Nikolai said aloud in a questioning tone.

The marine nodded his head. "...Yeah. I'd say it was, but, good work man." Dempsey replied, as he patted the Soviet on the shoulder both in complementation and in thanks. Then suddenly he stopped in mid-step, prompting Nikolai and Takeo to stop and look at him questioningly. They became nervous and worried when they saw his eyes were blank and face devoid of all emotion. Suddenly Dempsey looked toward Nikolai and gave him the most scathing glare he was able to muster. "I take those last words back! You just destroyed the building that had ammunition for my Remington Revolver dammit!"


	6. Chapter 5

Dead Rising

Chapter 5

_They had been in this godforsaken zombie infested swamp for weeks now. After Takeo and Nikolai, Dempsey and Naruto had gotten out of Der Riese with the help of one insane German by the name of Edward Richtofen they were brought to a swamp Takeo had dubbed as 'Shi No Numa', which translates to 'Swamp of Death' in English. _

_And what a fitting name it is. The moment the five of them set foot in the swamp they were besieged by zombies almost immediately. Naruto in spite of unable to use a gun, had used a combat knife and a M1911 Colt. against them. He fought them off by his own well enough, and had Dempsey and Takeo to help him get out of trouble if he found himself in way over his head with how many zombies was around him. _

_When he got to the big guns to buy, he was filled with information on how to use them. While that happened, he thought he heard someone he recognised whispering to him. Telling him to beware of Richtofen. But it may had been a figment of his imagination. When the zombies would attack them in waves Naruto while fighting them off, would watch everyone how they use their guns and then copy what they do. _

_Takeo and Dempsey were helpful in teaching him how to effectively use the guns without knocking himself down on his ass because he wasn't expecting the recoil. It was a mostly daunting process because he was still young, and would therefore not be able to effectively use most of the weapons at his disposal; such as the M1A1 Thompson Sub machine gun, the B.A.R, the M1919 Browning and the MG-42. Mainly because of their sheer size, and the recoil they have when fired. _

_A few weeks and more zombie waves later Naruto was able to properly use handguns, and quickly found his favourite handgun; the .357 Magnum. He finds the recoil of it when fired somewhat irritating but controllable. _

_The Ray Gun is the only handgun he had not been able to use. In Dempsey's words the recoil is, "So fucking high that it felt like it would dislocate my wrist when it's fired rapidly." so using that weapon at his age (he is still thirteen after all) was out the question. Not until his body had grown and matured enough to handle the strain of the recoil. _

_The swamp in total has five wooden and straw buildings. The Storage hut to the North West, the Doctor's Quarter's to the South West, the Communication Room to the North East and the Fishing Hut to the South East. The largest one having the ground floor and the first floor was smack right in the middle of them all. Each hut, or buildings, has one perk machine in them, along with a few chalk outlines for them to change their weaponry or to regain the ammo they lost. _

_Right now group is staying in the Doctor's Quarters to the South West from the main building. Just outside of the building was a zipline that serves to give the group a quick getaway to the main building. Giving them the option to avoid crossing the swamp altogether. It's a shame the other huts don't have quick getaways like the zipline. It would make traversing through the swamp a whole lot easier. _

_Standing guard at the doorway of the Doctor's Quarter's was Naruto and Dempsey. Both of them were armed with a .357 Magnum (Naruto) and a B.A.R (Dempsey). "So how long are we going to stay in this bug infested swamp?" Naruto asked as he turned to look up at his friend. _

_Dempsey helplessly shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. Richtofen seems to be looking for something he claims can 'give us the edge' against these maggot-sacks. I'm not really sure what it is that insane psychopath says is out here, but we'll have to be prepared for the long term." _

"_Maybe it's a weapon?" The 13 year old suggested. _

_Dempsey gazed up thoughtfully at the suggestion. "A weapon that can give us an edge on these zombies? That sounds plausible, the Germans were researching advanced technology the last time we were at Der Riese. But the likelihood of there being an advanced weapon all the way out here, in Japanese territory? That's very unlikely."_

"_Very unlikely doesn't mean it's not impossible." Naruto pointed out optimistically. _

"_I know that kiddo." Dempsey calmly replied with a light frown pulling at his lips. He kept his eyes ahead of him. "Just don't get your hopes up."_

X.X.X.X

While Nikolai and Takeo ditched Naruto and Samantha to help Dempsey after they heard several gunshots, followed by an explosion. The two teenagers after being ditched were doing their best to answer the questions as to how the perk machines got in Yugakure when they were never there during the past three years. Samantha was in the middle of explaining – aka: bullshitting with expertise – to the ninjas that the perk machines always made an appearance at locations they go to; and that they didn't know where they came from or why the things seem to follow them.

It wasn't a lie. Not completely at least. Because wherever her former enemies went the perk machines would be there for their use. It was even in that insane asylum in Germany where Tank Dempsey was trying to recover Peter Mccain. She didn't know she could control the Perk Machines until Shi No Numa.

And the people of this dimension are primitive in terms of technology, so they would not have these perk machines or anything similar for quite some time to come. The reason why she was bullshitting them was she didn't want to tell any of them that she is the one that brought the machines to this former Hidden Village in the first place. She didn't trust any of them and as Naruto said their ninja. They're more likely to stab you in the back once they got what they wanted from you.

The questioning was brought to an abrupt halt when Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo all ran out of the building; just as they heard an explosion and the building collapsing on itself.

"...You took down a building with a grenade?!" Naruto stated with a great amount of disbelief in his voice upon hearing what Nikolai said about using the grenade. He stared at Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey but mostly at Nikolai with incredulity. "What the hell caused you to do that!?"

Peering over his shoulder with caution and nervousness Dempsey replied in a dread-filled tone; "Gas crawlers." With narrowed eyes the former marine, along with Takeo and Nikolai scanned the buildings around them. Given these crawlers can maneuver themselves over any surface, they would have to keep their eye on everything and every place they can get on.

"Gas crawlers?" At Dempsey affirmative nod Naruto widened his eyes and cursed audibly. "Oh for fucks sake." He and Samantha then quickly aided them in surveying their surroundings through the sights of their respective weapons.

"Gas crawlers? What are gas crawlers?" Jiraiya asked, just wondering why the five of them were looking so nervous.

"Gas crawlers are zombies." Naruto was the one to answer in a quick pace of speech. "A special type of zombie that can expel a green coloured gas upon its death that can disorientate us if it's inhaled." The blonde added as he gestured to himself and his comrades.

"As the name suggests, these little-buggers crawl on all four of their limbs. It makes them difficult to spot if you don't know what to look for." Dempsey picked up when it looked Naruto wasn't going to continue. "They're also able to move on all surfaces. That also includes being able to crawl on walls."

Yugito narrowed her eyes as she scanned the rooftops warily. She never heard of these Gas crawlers before. The thought of them being able to move on any surface and difficult to spot was a call for concern. This had to be brought to the attention of the Raikage!

"I never heard of these 'Gas crawlers'. What does it look like? What is it able to do?" The woman asked; never keeping her eyes off the rooftops.

Then as if to answer her question nearby familiar roars, at least to Naruto and his group, sounded off challengingly to them. Then like a locust several hundreds of the things made their appearance by scaling along the walls from every direction in front of them. The ninjas having never seen them before during the past three years, unsurprisingly were shocked at their heavily mutated appearance. The large shark like teeth that took up most of their face had implanted itself in their minds for the rest of their lives.

As one Takeo and Dempsey, Nikolai and Samantha and Naruto all took aim and opened fire on them. The ninjas watched in fascination as the crawlers fell to the fire-power of their weaponry by the dozens.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes as he analysed the zombies carefully in his head."They're unhealthily skinny. Little than nothing more but skin and bones. There are some human characteristics to them but with how far they are mutated, the things barely resembled anything human." The Toad Sage narrowed his eyes even more at the thought of their mutations. This is something Orochimaru would do if given the chance. "Their clawed hands and feet would give them the tools needed to allow them to move on any surface, just as Dempsey said they're able to do. Not to mention there seems to be a faint trail of green gas coming from them. The horrible smell coming from the gas, would be a dead give away to their presence."

"When they're dying, they flip on their backs and curl up like a spider." Jiraiya analysed further as the crawlers did just as he described. "And just like Naruto said, they then release a green gas of some sort upon their deaths."

The crawlers were relentless. Despite them being killed by the dozens with every passing second they are steadily closing in on them from their front and sides. Something that was not missed by everyone. What was worse about their situation was the gas cloud spreading out in all directions. With heaps of Gas zombies being killed, the cloud of gas that is spreading at an alarming rate. If they don't back away, it will overtake and consume them.

Scowling at hearing the dreaded 'click, click, click' in his assault rifle, Dempsey began to move backwards as he reloaded his weapon. Several crawlers were now on the ground and approaching the group of ninja and zombie slayers at an alarming pace. This had forced everyone to back away slowly as the crawlers were getting far to close to them for comfort, not to mention the gas cloud was beginning to spread even further now that several more were dying on the ground than on the walls. At least if they died on the walls the gas would be limited as to where it can go.

To aid the group who are shooting at the crawlers, all ninjas threw kunai and shuriken at the assembling horde. The projectiles despite the level of accuracy they were thrown, had hit home but was not effective enough to kill them. The crawlers bloodied and having shuriken and kunai sticking out of their body continued their approach as if they weren't hurt at all.

"Don't waste your weapons like that!" Dempsey yelled gratingly at them when he saw the projectiles being thrown over his head.

"Do you have any other ideas then?!" Kanon snapped irritatingly at him while her eyes widened with maniacal panic. The stress of being surrounded on all sides by the enemy was beginning to get to her.

Growling Dempsey turned to glare at the woman. "For fucks sake woman, you can breath fire out of your mouth!" He snapped back at her with an annoyed snarl pulling at his lips. "Use your brain that is conveniently inside of your skull and use your godlike power to kick some pale undead ass!"

"That's the Tank Dempsey I know!" Naruto said with a genuine laugh, just before he unsheathed his combat knife, dodged a swipe from a crawler and after grabbing it by the back of its head smashed it face first in the ground. He then drove the knife in the back of its skull all the way up to the hilt.

Naruto seeing the others were getting a fair distance away from him quickly and brutally yanked the knife out of the now dead crawler and quickly regrouped with the others. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you lot are doing this on purpose." Naruto said as he rejoined the others; let it be known that he was looking directly at the ninja accusingly as he said this.

"Doing what?" Taiki questioned as he narrowed his eyes at the accusing look Naruto was giving him and the other shinobi and kunoichi.

"You're not being as helpful as I thought you'd be."

"In case you haven't noticed we're surrounded by these creepy crawling things. Not to mention these things can adapt to our every move with each encounter. So please forgive us if we're not using chakra as much as we should." Jiraiya calmly explained while defending their lack of action toward' the zombies.

Samantha hearing Jiraiya's explanation could only shake her head. As she reloaded her MP-40 she turned to the man and asked, "You do realise zhey vill grow stronger even if you use chakra or not?" The surprised looks the ninja had given her answered her question and made her palm her face in disbelief. "How you all made it through zhis long vithout knowing zhat is very, very astonishing to me." She deadpanned at him.

"It does explain why the hellpigs are stronger than ox!" Nikolai exclaimed, before yelling out in pain when a crawler swiped at his shin. Nikolai in retaliation stomped the crawler on the head with a deep scowl on his lips, before he took aim and pulled the trigger reducing the crawler's torso into a bloody mess.

Nikolai however forgot one important fact: they expel gas once they die. Something he remembered too late. Himself, Akira and Taiki who was close to him all let out a startled yelp when they were suddenly consumed by the gas. Nikolai being immune to the Element 115 contained within the gas was only irritated by it. As proven by his coughing and hacking, and slight blindness it brought to his vision before he got out of the gas cloud.

Akira and Taiki on the other hand were not as lucky as Nikolai. The two of them after inhaling the gas started coughing severely. The gas also blurred their vision, making it difficult for them to see where they were going. They began hacking up blood not long after and fell to their knees before slumping forward, laying flat on the ground with blood coming out of their mouths.

The others who weren't caught by the gas quickly moved away from it. Nikolai who was covering his mouth and nose with one hand was having a coughing fit as he hunched over. Kanon was staring at the gas that had covered Taiki and and Akira entirely in despair. She saw the two of them falling to their knees and slump to the ground and knew they were dead.

"Aw, shit." Dempsey cursed dejectedly when he saw the two Kumogakure shinobi hacking up blood before they collapsed. That was a horrible way to go. Your last moments before you die being coughing up blood as the gas infected you from the inside.

"I thought you said the gas disorientates you!?" Jiraiya exclaimed as he rounded on Naruto.

"Yeah, it does. To us!" The blonde exclaimed as he gestured to himself, Takeo and Nikolai, Dempsey and Samantha. "I never said anything about it disorientating you."

"You could've said that earlier!" Kanon yelled at him.. "They wouldn't be dead otherwise!"

"I think I made it perfectly clear when I said, _'it can disorientate us if it's inhaled'_." Naruto calmly replied despite the situation. "For fucks sake woman I even gestured to my group as I said it. So if you didn't pick up on that, then you're fucking stupider than you appear to be!"

As the gas dispersed in the air Dempsey saw the still as a statue bodies of Taiki and Akira with blood coming out of their mouths. He knew, he just knew that they were dead, and with Element 115 flowing freely through their entire body it would not take long for them to reanimate. So to make sure they wouldn't get back up and try to take a chunk out of them the former marine redirected the barrel of his assault rifle and aimed down the sights directly at their head.

Just as he was about to take a shot the two twitched. Dempsey hesitated and narrowed his eyes. They twitched again and slowly began to stiffly get to their feet. Takeo not hearing Tank fire his weapon turned to address him and saw Taiki and Akira getting back to their feet. The two of them noticed Taiki and Akira had their eyelids closed.

"C'mon. Open your eyes." Dempsey murmured, his eyes were narrowed so much they looked like slits. "Open your eyes you two. I need to know if you're reanimated before I do something I may regret."

Takeo was gazing between Dempsey, Akira and Taiki with an uncertain look. But he raised his sub-machine gun at the two ninjas nevertheless. The second the two opened their eyelids, Takeo and Dempsey opened fire on them. The two without warning had seemingly teleported. They were there one second, and the next, they were straddling Takeo and Dempsey after the two had been tackled to the ground. The guns just out of reach. Both Takeo and Dempsey had their forearms pushing up against their throats. The two of them were gritting their teeth as they put all their might in keeping the two zombified ninjas from getting their teeth sunk in them.

The two struggling men were quickly relieved of their life-threatening situation when Nikolai and Naruto shot Taiki and Akira both in the back of the head, allowing Takeo and Dempsey to shove the now permanently dead men off them.

Jiraiya and Yugito providing support in keeping the zombies back with fire techniques. Jiraiya using his Flame bullet to incinerate the crawlers as they approached, and Yugito using her Mouse Hairball technique.

Mouse Hairball is literally a blue flaming ball of hair that takes on the form of a mouse. Naruto's group who didn't know of it heard Yugito Nii shouting out her technique behind them, after Jiraiya yelled out his own and were surprised to see the fiery projectile fly over them before splitting into several more projectiles and hit the crawlers dead on in the head and set alight. This was followed by Jiraiya's oil enhanced fire technique setting up another wall of fire that engulfed the crawlers on the other side who were unlucky enough to get caught in it.

"Three people dead." Jiraiya stated with a despairing shake of his head after the wall of fire was set up. He was surprised that Taiki and Akira suddenly came back to life and would have helped Takeo and Dempsey in getting them off, but the two were killed before he could do anything. "We need to get out of here before we take anymore loses and get overwhelmed by those things!"

"Normally I don't agree with people I barely know." Dempsey said with a grunt as he grabbed his M-16 from the ground and checked to see if there was any dirt lodged in the gun muzzle. Seeing the muzzle was clear the marine nodded his head in satisfaction and turned to the others. "But in this case I have to agree with him. This place is a death trap."

"Oh? So you're changing the plan of using the buildings to our advantage?" Naruto questioned him with an arched eyebrow questioningly.

"That was when we were dealing with runners and sprinters. Now we're dealing with a possible super zombie out here along with these creepy crawlers. Using the buildings is not an option. We need to get the hell out of here before we really get in over our heads."

Takeo frowned thoughtfully as he checked the condition of his Type 100. "If we are to do this choice, do we go our separate ways? Or accompany them?" The samurai questioned as he gestured to Yugito, Kanon and Jiraiya.

"Why not come back with me to the Village Hidden in the Leafs?" Jiraiya offered to them as he wanted Naruto to be back in the place he belonged while at the same time getting the opportunity for the Konoha ninja to confiscate their weaponry and replicate them. Seeing the blank look on the face of his godson, Jiraiya knew Naruto wasn't going to accept his offer so before the whisker face teen could fully make his decision tried to tempt him. "There are a lot of people in Konoha you had made friends with that think you're dead. They miss you. They would be extremely happy to see that you're alive again."

"I am afraid I have to refuse your offer." Naruto replied and frowned as he felt a little guilty as he saw the hurt look Jiraiya was giving him. Sighing Naruto scratched the side of his head and said as to further explain his reasoning, "You have to understand; I grew up in a place that ignored and neglected me. A place where every single day, people would act as though I never existed. If I go back there I don't think I will be capable of keeping myself from killing them." Naruto thought his reasons for not wanting to go to Konohagakure was pretty sensible. And truth be told if he agreed to go to Konohagakure and met anyone there from his academy days, he would have a feeling that he would have to restrain himself from pulling the trigger.

They also tormented him during his childhood even if they didn't know it, since they always listened to their parents and would never think to ask them just why they should avoid him or why they called him a troublemaker. Not to mention the children would often chase him away when he tried to join in with their games, or tried to become friends with them.

Out of them all, however, the most likely person he would kill is the pink haired girl. He doesn't remember much about her but what little memory of her he still has is she would punch him on the back of the head for the littlest of things. Even though he was a complete moron back then and kept pestering the girl for dates. So he deserved getting hit by her for the pestering. Everything else on the other hand he did not.

"Then why not come with Kanon and I to the border leading to the Land of Frost?" Yugito asked once Naruto finished giving his reasons for not going with Jiraiya. "We could use some help in fighting back the undead once they reach the wall our forces made."

Naruto to Yugito's disappointment shook his head negatively. "Not to offend you Miss, but I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why is that?" Kanon questioned demandingly.

"It is because of how primitive you are in terms of technology." Nikolai bluntly stated as stared at the remaining three ninjas with a stern expression. "I may not be smart like my comrades' but it's truth. The chances of your leaders confiscating our weapons and replicating them is to high. No it is not ideal for us to accompany you."

When Nikolai finished speaking those who know him were staring at him in both surprise and astonishment. "I don't believe it." Dempsey began as Nikolai stared them with growing bewilderment. "Nikolai actually spoke in a clear, coherent sentence and made sense at the same time!"

"Good, god! He's not sober is he!?" Naruto questioned, staring at Nikolai as if he were an entirely new entity in mock alarm.

Nikolai stared at everyone with a blank face when everyone – except Takeo who was mature enough to not react – began overreacting to him saying something that was intelligent. Nikolai as he stared at his group with squinted eyes, simply gave them the middle finger and gave Naruto a slap to the back of the head to relieve himself of the pent up annoyance. It felt good when he expelled his annoyance through physical contact. It made hearing Naruto letting out a surprised cry at being hit worth it.

The Russian gave Naruto a stern look as he said. "Unless you to end up dead like fourth wife, do not provoke this Soviet, eh?" Nikolai threatened lightly as he drove his fist in his palm. It was a complete bluff of course. Naruto. He would NEVER hurt the boy and killing him is something he would never do.

His comment had earned him a glare and wary looks from Yugito, Kanon and Jiraiya. Yugito and Kanon were looking at Nikolai warily because of him mentioning killing another one of his wives, and threatening to kill Naruto the same way as he did to her. They were even looking at the rest of the group and to their hidden disbelief saw they weren't concerned at all of the threat Nikolai had made. It was as if this was an every day occurrence for them which disturbed the two of them greatly.

Jiraiya on the other hand was outright glaring at Nikolai for threatening to kill his godson and would have delivered him a chakra enhanced punch to the nose. But with how different Naruto was than he remembered him, the Toad Sage has a feeling Naruto and his friends would not hesitate on killing him if he tried it.

To the disbelief of Yugito, Kanon and Jiraiya, Naruto scoffed at the threat and gave Nikolai a knowing smile. "Riiiiight. You threatening to beat me to death? We both know you would never do that. Sober or not." The blonde teen pointed out.

"...Bah!" The Russian exclaimed, throwing up his arms. "You always could see through my bluffs."

"Ve all could see through your bluffs." Samantha unhelpfully pointed out to him with a closed-eyed smile.

"Hmm, it seems the creepy crawlers have backed off for the moment." Dempsey stated as he surveyed his surroundings. His statement had unintentionally brought everyone's attention back to their current predicament.

Takeo after hearing Dempsey's statement raised his Type 100 and scanned his surroundings. There were no crawlers in sight. Redirecting his gaze to the ground Takeo once again scanned his surroundings, and apart from the burning to death crawlers in the wall of fire there are none of them in sight. "It appears you are correct, American." The man added in support after he looked at the rooftops around them

"What makes you so sure?" Kanon questioned.

"We have been standing here in this very spot talking for the past five minutes. These things could have crawled on the walls to bypass the wall of fire Jiraiya had set up. Instead they seem to have backed off." The tone Dempsey spoke in sounded as if Kanon should have known.

"If that is the case then you three can get out of here!"

"What about you and your group Naruto?" Jiraiya questioned his godson with narrowed eyes and a light frown.

Naruto looked at everyone in his group for a moment, silently conveying a question to them. Takeo and Nikolai, Dempsey and Samantha all saw what he wanted to ask from the look in his eyes alone and gazed at one another. After a few seconds of tense silence they brought their gaze back to Naruto and nodded their heads simultaneously in agreement, conveying they would agree with what he wanted to tell them.

Nodding back the teenage blonde turned to Jiraiya and with a small confident smile pulling at his lips replied, "The five of us are going to stay here, and try to kill as much of these zombies as possible. Lessen the amount of zombies you will have to face later on."

"Are you out of your mind!?" Jiraiya exclaimed at Naruto with disbelief lathing his voice. "You will be greatly outnumbered by them. The chances of you getting out of here will be slim!"

"It won't be the first time that happened." Dempsey replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Seeing Jiraiya, Kanon and Yugito giving him curious looks the marine elaborated. "For the past three years, the five of us have been in some of the most gruelling places you can imagine. All of them were overrun by the undead, similar to this place, and we survived that. It also helps that the five of us are immune what ever is bringing the dead back to life."

"Not to mention we had to do some pretty inane shit. Like freeing some guy from some kind of dimension he had managed to get himself trapped in." Naruto added with a mildly irritated look, as he reminisced when he and the others had to free some Russian guy from some other dimension he had gotten himself trapped in. Another thing they did was travelling back in time several times to do some very long and complicated tasks, just so they can change the outcome of two men who kept on dying to zombies. In the end their attempts to save the two men had gotten them stuck in a time loop. What were their names again? Brock and Gary? Yeah, that was it. Their likely still in that loop right this moment.

"...Really?" Jiraiya, Yugito and Kanon simultaneously asked in a sceptical tone, to which Naruto and Samantha, Takeo and Dempsey and Nikolai nodded in confirmation as a response.

"The five of us. And a seemingly limitless amount of zombies. That grows stronger and adapts to the way we fight with every encounter." Naruto stated as he looked toward his group with a smile. "Samantha, you know what you need to do." The blonde teen said as he motioned his head toward Jiraiya, Kanon and Yugito.

The girl squinted her eyes at Naruto confusingly for a moment before they widened in realisation at what he was trying to convey to her: take Jiraiya and Kanon and Yugito out of here. Nodding her head Samantha turned to the three ninja and transformed. To the shock, astonishment and surprise of the ninja they saw Samantha's skin turn a pale snow white and her dark eyes turned to glowing yellow. Just like the zombies.

"Now it's time for me to do my part; let's get you three out of here." Samantha told them in her American accent before she used her powers to teleport herself, and the three ninja away from Yugakure.

The group of four stared at where the ninja used to be in silence. Before Nikolai broke it with a question. "...So we went from staying, to retreating, to staying again?" He questioned the others with confusion lathing his voice.

"Yeah. Pretty much." Dempsey replied before chuckling to himself amusingly. "We really got to have our priorities straightened out. We went from preparing for the freak-sacks arrival, to running away from them and then to staying to kill as much of them as we possibly can."

Naruto laughed a little at that. "Yeah we did didn't we?"

"However, something tells me that man is going to be filled with anger when Samantha brings him to her designated location." Takeo stated as he saw the shocked and surprised look on the man's face. Those feelings Jiraiya had felt at that moment could easily turn to anger at a moments notice.

"Then hopefully it will be far away in the distance where the concrete wall is. That would take the man some time in getting back here." Dempsey paused for a moment before adding. "If he is suicidal of course."

"Hopefully he isn't. He would be basically committing suicide since these ass-wipes are capable of adapting themselves to the way the people here fight." Naruto sighed and looked into the fire that was beginning to snuff itself out now there was nothing to fuel it. "I still can't believe they're losing the war against these zombies despite what everyone in this world is capable of doing." The blonde teen added in disbelief as he shook his head.

"Tell me about it." Said Dempsey. "I never thought I'd see someone breathe fire from their mouths like a dragon!"

"And what is up with them shouting out name for attacks? That serves no purpose if they're meant to be ninja." Nikolai said as he frowned. While he may not know enough about ninjas' since that was more along Takeo's area of expertise, he knew enough from stories that they were stealthy.

They were meant to be quiet and strike from the shadows. He did not see the point of them shouting out the names for their attacks as they did them. Because not only did it give away their location to the enemy, they also threw away their stealth advantage. As a former sergeant in the Red Army, giving away your location and throwing away stealth is not acceptable. Not to mention none of them appear to be ninja.

There area was filled with silence with the sound of burning fire being heard in the background. They found it particularly strange they did not hear the groans, the growling or the roaring of zombies they are used to hearing.

Naruto looked at Takeo and noticed something he hadn't before because of his attention being completely on the zombies to notice. "Takeo..." Said man silently turned to look at Naruto questioningly upon hearing him say his name. "Where's the Staff of Fire?" The blonde asked.

That was when Dempsey took notice of Takeo's missing Staff of Fire. The last time he was with the samurai, Takeo had the staff slung over his shoulder. Now it was missing. "Yeah, wasn't it with you the last time I saw you?" Dempsey pointed out with his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"It was, and still is." Takeo answered admittingly.

Both Dempsey and Naruto frowned confusingly at the man. "What do you mean it's still with you? I don't see it." Dempsey said as he gave the man the look over.

Naruto nodded his head in agreement with the man, as he didn't understand what Takeo was implying when he said he still had it when he obviously did not. Takeo sighed and after he slung his Type 100 over his shoulder, he held out his right hand in front of him as if he were holding the staff.

It looked ridiculous to them at first and then the Staff of Fire itself frickin' materialised in his hand in all its glory. Smiling softly at the sight of the Element Staff back in his grasp Takeo looked back at Naruto and Dempsey and couldn't help but smile a smug smile at the astonished stares they were giving him.

"Okay, that right there, that was awesome." Naruto stated after a moment of silence. His eyes were doe like.

"Although I have no idea how that is possible – I suspect the author of this story – that explains where the staff went. However, how were you able to do that in the first place?" Dempsey questioned while ignoring the fact he pretty much broke the Fourth Wall.

He also wasn't surprised, astonished yes but not surprised, when the staff materialised out of nothing. Takeo shrugged helplessly as he was clueless as to how he is able to materialise and dematerialise the staff at will. He suspects it was because of him touching it back when they were in the Wave Village almost 6 to 7 hours ago. In the perspective of Dempsey and Naruto, Takeo and Nikolai and Samantha time had not past that long. To them mere hours had actually went by since they they were brought to that mysterious plane/dimension, and spent at least 10 to 20 minutes there before being brought to Yugakure by an impatient Samantha, while an entire week had past for the Elemental Nations.

"I have no idea. It is a mystery." Takeo replied honestly. He really had no idea how it was possible.

"Oh, god, I hate mystery's. Nothing good can come out of them." Dempsey groaned out in complaint as he palmed his forehead and pulled down across his face. His past experiences with mysteries were filled with sweat, blood and a great deal of pain. And violence! He cannot forget about the violence.

"Takeo became younger when he got the staff. Perhaps he was able to do that because of the staff itself?" Nikolai had a very good point there. Maybe the staff did have something to do with it? It could possibly work in a similar way as the focusing stone they got from Shangri-la? That thing had somehow made them all stronger when they all had gotten their hands on it.

The zombies literally stood no chance against them since they retrieved the stone one by one by going through the loop. They were overpowered and could take on everything in their path. Then they were brought to Nevada, to Area 51 just outside of the teleporter that would teleport them to Griffon Station on the moon and they lost all of their advantages that had gotten from the focusing stone.

"It is possible Nikki." Said Takeo with a nod before the staff dematerialised itself into atoms and went to god-knows where.

"Maybe we would get some answers if we find anymore of these staffs laying about?" Dempsey questioned, and everyone nodded at it with a thoughtful look on their faces. If there was one of these staffs then there maybe more of them out there somewhere. "How close are we to one of the major 'hidden villages' Naruto?"

Naruto frowned and stroked his chin in thought as he tried to recall the tactical map in that odd dimension they were hours before. "Right now we are the closest to Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning. And to get there we would have to get past the concrete wall that is directly on the border of the Land of Frost and the country we are in as of this moment."

"Okay, so we found the Staff of Fire in the Land of Fire. Or maybe on the outskirts of the country." Dempsey said as he nodded to himself. He made a thinking sound as he thought of possible locations on where the other staff may be located in the Elemental Nations, if they did happen to exist. "So we take that into consideration, my theory is that the Staff of Lightning could be in the Land of Lightning. The Staff of Wind could be in the Land of Wind. The Staff of Ice? I have no idea where that could be. Maybe the Land of Water?"

Everyone took Dempsey's theory into consideration, and after giving it some thought, they came to the conclusion it had some merit to it. Right now his theory made the most sense and it had a pattern to it. If the Staff of Lightning was indeed in the Land of Lightning, then it is indeed possible the other staffs are in their country counterparts.

Naruto with his mind made up nodded and said, "It's worth checking out. But we should take down as much of these fuckers first before we move on."

"Oh, yeah, sure, take down as much of them as we possibly can. What these ninjas ever done for us?"

Everyone stared blankly at Nikolai. He had been here when Jiraiya and Yugito completely decimated them in a matter of seconds. "They took down two groups of zombies in a matter of seconds. The first one had saved your and Takeo's lives. Not to mention that Yugito chick completely decimated them with her own technique the second time." Dempsey pointed out to the Soviet.

"Bah! We could have done better." Nikolai exclaimed boastfully.

Dempsey deadpanned and as he shook his head said, "Yeah, we could have done better, if we had a Gersch Device on hand." He stated once more to the Soviet.

"Now is not the time to be starting an argument!" Both Takeo and Naruto said in exclamation at the same time. The both of them knew if Nikolai and Dempsey were to continue as they were, then an argument between the two would be inevitable.

Just as the two of them said that, the group of four heard the crawlers roaring out in challenge to them just as they made their reappearance on the rooftops. Getting his weapon ready Takeo and Nikolai, Dempsey and Naruto all aimed their guns toward the rooftops where the crawlers were.

Then suddenly they heard the familiar moaning and groaning' of the undead sounding out in front of them; and steadily grew in sound and volume with each passing second. The sound of hands bashing against a wooden surface was heard for a moment before they heard a crashing sound, along with several hundred footsteps.

Redirecting their line of sight away from the rooftops, the four all saw a massive horde literally jumping on top of the remains of the collapsed building that Nikolai had accidentally caused to collapse in on itself.

Being surrounding on their front and sides, and with the runners and sprinters descending on them on their front rapidly, Naruto uttered three words that summed up what everyone was thinking at that moment.

"Oh, fuck me."

X.X.X.X

It had been nearly 8 hours since Asuka had been left in charge by Yugito. She had been doing well so far. She had been holding the fort until Yugito returned, and would only get herself involved in matters she had deemed worth her attention. In spite of all that nothing of interest had happened as of yet; something Asuka was thankful for because despite what everyone thinks no one is prepared to fight the undead even if you had fought them in several engagements in the past.

So given that nothing had happened for the past 7 to 8 hours, it was understandable why everyone would be startled when Yugito, Kanon and Jiraiya suddenly appeared before them out of thin air with no warning. They didn't take notice of Samantha because all of their attention were on the three ninja who had reappeared all of a sudden.

"We're... back at the border...?" Kanon stated in astonished uncertainty as she looked around her surroundings. "But how is this possible?"

Yugito after looking at the familiar environment brought her attention to Samantha. She felt her eyes involuntarily widen in astonishment when she saw the girl floating in mid-air away from the wall. Her hair was defying gravity the locks coiling and uncoiling around on themselves like tentacles. Her skin which was a healthy colour before, was now an unhealthy pale snow white. Her previously brown eyes were now a glowing yellow.

"You... You're not human are you?" Yugito questioned Samantha with a wary look. Her question had brought everyone's attention to Samantha and they too were shocked at her appearance. Her glowing yellow eyes as she gazed between each and every individual in front of her, felt as if they were peering into their very soul.

Samantha didn't reply to the question for the longest time and it was making everyone tense at the silence. Narrowing her eyes Samantha stared at Jiraiya when she saw the angry expression he was sending her.

"You are partially correct." She finally answered; her voice soft, low and somehow echoing. "I am human, yet, not human just as the other four are." She added cryptically, as she referred to Takeo and Dempsey and Naruto and Nikolai, while secretly enjoying the confused looks everyone who didn't know she was talking about was sending her and the ninja she brought back.

"What do you mean by that?" Jiraiya demanded as he glared suspiciously at the floating glowing eyed girl. "Naruto looked as human just as I remember him being! Including the other three!"

Samantha merely smiled something that Jiraiya didn't like if his growl was anything to go by. Kanon however was squinting up at her, gears were connecting in her head. "Those eyes..." She began, prompting everyone's attention to shift to her. "...You're a zombie aren't you?"

Samantha stroked her chin as she regarded Kanon's question seriously. "Hmm, that is a pretty good question. Despite my appearance I am most definitely NOT a zombie. I can assure you all of that."

"If you're not a zombie... then what are you?" Yugito questioned.

Samantha give Yugito a bitter smile. "Ever since I became like this I often wondered what I have become." She replied before she turned her head sharply toward Yugakure with a worried look plastered on her face. "I have to go now. The others need me."

Samantha was about to teleport herself away to the others when she heard Jiraiya shouting out to her. Pausing her attempt to teleport Samantha turned halfway to stare at the Toad Sage who was now standing at the edge of the wall, and was staring up at her imploringly.

"Can you at least bring me back to Konohagakure?" He requested of her. Internally he was sweating nervously. Those eyes of hers were creeping him the hell out. This is most definitely not a normal girl.

Samantha stared down at Jiraiya with suspicion in her eyes before floating down to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. Jiraiya widened his eyes when he suddenly found himself in a n endless white void. Jiraiya looked around his new found surroundings with narrowed eyes. It seems to go on forever. Suddenly Samantha materialised in front of him, catching him by surprise and making the man take a few steps back instinctively.

"Where are we?" He asked the girl as he surveyed his surroundings.

"We are nowhere. And we are everywhere." She replied cryptically. She did not have the need to tell the Toad Sage that this place is where the tactical map of the Elemental Nations is. She had removed it just in case the old man in front of her got the wrong idea.

"Back to the reason as to why you are here: why do you want me to bring you to Konohagakure?" Samantha questioned the man as she crossed her arms with her eyes narrowing at him in suspicion. "What are you planning to do once you get there? Are you going to tattle on us? Because that won't be a healthy thing to do if you tattle on us." She questioned him again, as her voice becoming more and more childlike with a disturbing undertone toward' the end that promised a great deal of pain for him if she didn't like his answer.

"Everyone in the Elemental Nations already knows of your existence. We discovered your presence one week ago in the Land of Waves." Jiraiya answered her truthfully, knowing that lying to her at this point would be the stupidest thing he could do at this point. "Also there is a possibility that Tsunade, the leader of Konohagakure, already knows of Naruto's return as she sent several teams to the Land of Waves to get details of what had happened after you disappeared. It won't be long until she sends out teams to retrieve Naruto and send him home. Either peacefully or forcefully."

"Really? You really believe that you can bring _my Naruto_ back to the place he despises?" She questioned rhetorically before glaring at him with her eyes narrowing dangerously. The Toad Sage noticed Samantha had said the words 'my Naruto' a little to possessively for his liking. "You try to take him by force, and I will murder every insignificant person your Hokage sent after him!" She exclaimed with a scowl.

Jiraiya quickly raised his hands to placate the girl. He could tell she was completely serious about killing anyone that is sent to bring his godson forcibly back to Konohagakure. "I can assure you that Tsunade will most certainly NOT send people to forcibly bring Naruto back to Konoha."

"Really? And how do I know that you are telling the truth?"

"Because I'm not the kind of person who would lie!"

Samantha stared at him as if he had said something stupid. Which in her eyes he did as what he said contradicted his profession. "You are not the kind of person who would lie?" She questioned rhetorically as she gave the elder a bland look. "You're a ninja, moron. Lying, cheating, plotting and killing is in your job description. And if you seriously expected me to believe you would not manipulate my friend, then you are dumber than I thought you'd be."

Jiraiya sternly glared up at her in defiance. He had nothing to say to refute her accusations as she was telling the truth. He was a ninja, and, as a ninja what she said was literally his job. If he had to back stab someone just so Konoha would remain safe, or to kill someone so they would not become a future threat, then he would do so gladly.

"However..." Jiraiya slightly leaned back with wariness in his eyes when he saw a disturbing smile grace Samantha's lips. "...I think I'll send you back to your... Hidden Village." She nodded to herself as she tapped her chin in thought. "Yes... that seems like the ideal thing to do." Her grin widened in disturbing glee as she nodded to herself once again.

He didn't like that look on her face as she stared at him. He really, really didn't. The last thing Jiraiya heard before his vision was blinded by whiteness was Samantha saying in a low whisper, "I'll be watching you..."

The next thing the Toad Sage knew he found himself in the familiar room of the Hokage's office, in front of a desk that had an astonished Tsunade staring up at him with wide eyes. The room had entered an awkward silence with a stunned Hokage and a nervous looking Toad Sage.

Jiraiya nervously raised a hand and weakly waved at his leader in greeting. "Hi." He greeted her weekly.

Tsunade blinked her eyes repeatedly before they narrowed. "Jiraiya..." The Fifth Hokage slowly said as she stared at the nervous man in question. "...How the hell did you get in here...?" She asked him, with her narrowed eyes now squinting at him. First she was finished with doing her paperwork and then all of a sudden he appeared in front of her desk in a flash of light. His answer had better be a good one otherwise she'll deck him in the face!

Jiraiya rubbed the back of his neck as he started to laugh nervously. He knew that look and knowing Tsunade is a medic first and foremost, she would be able to tell if he was lying or not. Swallowing the saliva that was beginning to build up in his mouth, Jiraiya decided that telling her the truth would be his best bet to NOT get punched in the stratosphere.

"Would you believe me if I said, I had just encountered the 'Mysterious Five' and was teleported here by one of them?" He asked her in a meek tone.

For a moment nothing had been said between them. Jiraiya standing nervously in front of the desk waiting for Tsunade to make a response. And the Hokage herself was sitting behind her desk while staring up at her former team-mate with a blank look on her face.

"You had encountered the Mysterious Five at the Land of Hot Waters?" She questioned him for confirmation.

Jiraiya nodded in confirmation, though he found her being this calm to be strange. She considered Naruto to be like a little brother to her. And knowing just how close she was to him, Jiraiya thought she would be more... eager? Demanding? To know of his exact location.

He also wondered how she knew the Mysterious Five were at the Land of Hot Waters. But then felt like hitting himself in the face. The strange energy he had felt before he went to Yugakure would had been felt throughout the Elemental Countries. So of course Tsunade would know where they are!

Tsunade leaned back in her chair as she thought on her possible actions. On one hand she could send out people to bring Naruto back where he belonged, but those people she sent would be in constant danger in getting attacked by an overwhelming number of zombies. On the other she could leave Naruto where he is and wait for another time, but she would risk losing a great asset to Konohagakure. But before she can decide on any of those choices she needed more information.

"Jiraiya when you were there, what was the overall status of the Land of Hot Waters?"

"The country was bad. Very, very bad." He replied honestly, as he knew Tsunade wanted as much information as possible. "When I got to Yugakure, an army of Type 1 undead, that quickly evolved into Type 2s and 3s was there to prepare an invasion of the Land of Lightning. When I had entered the former Hidden Village I had encountered a small band of Kumogakure shinobi and Kunoichi, being led by Kumogakure's second Jinchuuriki Yugito Nii and knowing of the situation and knowing what we were looking for-"

"The Mysterious Five." Tsunade interjected.

Jiraiya nodded his head in confirmation before continuing his report as if he had never been interrupted. "-she had suggested that we band together. Not long after we teamed up I had an encounter with Naruto himself."

"How is he? Is he alright?" She immediately asked him with a pleading look. Jiraiya looked away for a moment to gather his thoughts on how to answer that. The second Jiraiya had done that Tsunade knew something was wrong. "Jiraiya... How. Is. He?" She demanded strongly.

The Toad Sage didn't say anything for a minute and just when Tsunade was about to repeat her demand the man answered. "...Naruto is fine. All things considered." Jiraiya replied with a bit of hesitation as he turned to stare at her completely. "However he's changed the the lack of a better word. It was like he is a totally different person."

"What do you mean?"

"He has amnesia and from what I remember you telling me, Naruto has a severe case of it." He told her. Jiraiya then began to proceed to tell Tsunade almost everything he had found out about his godson so far. The amnesia, the personality change, the closeness between Naruto and the rest of his group. And him not hesitating on killing Juro in cold blood. The reason he did not tell Tsunade everything about what he had discovered was because of him remembering what Samantha had said to him before he was brought here.

"I'll be watching you."

Seeing as that girl had teleported him from Yugakure, to the Land of Frost and then to Konohagakure, it would not be far fetched for him as to say she had other powers under her sleeve. Potentially dangerous powers that he was not willing to risk being a test subject on. He preferred living thank you very much.

By the time Jiraiya had finished almost an hour had passed and Tsunade was leaning on the her desk, while rubbing her forehead in distraught. "So Naruto doesn't remember us at all, and will not hesitate on killing us if we annoy him enough to so. And from how close he is to these people Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha he trusts them all with with his life."

The Hokage paused to gather her thoughts and to regain her breath before continuing where she left off. "The rumours of them using weapons similar to Kunai Launchers are true, and from you seeing them in action first hand 'all of them have different diversifications to them. The projectiles shooting out these weapons are small enough to be invisible to the human eye." She paused once more before continuing. "There is now another zombie type that can move on all surfaces, and expels a poisonous type of green gas upon its death that can kill anyone that is not immune to it? And not only that, it can quickly reanimate those that had fallen victim to it. And just before you got here Yugakure was on the brink of being overrun by zombies. Is there anything else I had missed?" She questioned once she had finished recounting everything she had been told by Jiraiya thus far.

Jiraiya shook his head from side to side. "Nope, that is everything I told you that I had found out thus far." He knew Tsunade could tell he was lying. He purposely neglected to mention Samantha and her powers and a lot of other things he had learnt about them. But what he did tell Tsunade was enough information to sedate her. He just hoped it would be enough to not bring down Samantha's wrath on him.

"I was thinking of sending a team or two to bring Naruto back home once we found his location. Do you recommend we send a team or two to bring him home?"

Jiraiya shook his head vehemently at the suggestion. "Considering Naruto's state of mind and that he will kill anyone that pisses him off in the slightest? No I recommend you do not send anyone out to bring him home unless he is within the Land of Fire itself. If you send anyone out to the Land of Hot Water to find him, by the time they get there, Naruto may already be gone."

After hearing those words Tsunade nodded to herself in thought. If she were to send a team out to bring Naruto back Team Kakashi is most definitely out. From what she read from the Acadamy reports before she became Hokage Sakura would smack Naruto across the head for every thing she didn't like. Sure Naruto was a total moron back then but he didn't deserve to be hit across the head every single time Sakura was within hearing distance. Not to mention she would insult people without thinking of it. She sometimes still does that so sending her and Kakashi out to retrieve Naruto is out of the question. Sasuke himself is still with Orochimaru so he too was out of the question. Though the likelihood of Naruto killing him is quite high.

Then there was Shikamaru, Choji and Ino who all made up Team Asuma. Shikamaru and Choji would most likely not be on Naruto's shit list, since they were neutral to him and somewhat friendly toward' him as well. Ino on the other hand was like Sakura. She may not have laid a hand on Naruto but she did always belittle him whenever she had the chance, so the possibility she would be on Naruto's shit list was likely.

Then there was Kiba, Hinata and Shino the ones who made up Team Kurenai. Kiba was similar to Naruto. With Naruto's new personality likelihood of Kiba being killed by him was high. Shino and Hinata are the only ones' out of the entire group Naruto would be able to tolerate.

And then there was Rock Lee, Neji and Tenten the ones who make Team Guy. With Tenten's fetish and slight (Major) obsession for weapons the likelihood of her getting killed by Naruto for annoying him is high. Rock Lee... no questions asked he will be killed by Naruto the second he opens his mouth. Neji would have a chance. If he were still the same as he was during the Chunin exams then Naruto would kill him without remorse.

Six out of ten people; mix the members around a bit to get rid of the ones Naruto would likely kill and she would have two teams. And like Jiraiya said Naruto would have to be within the Land of Fire before she could send anyone out to retrieve him. Anywhere else and they would risk being attacked by zombies and would be too far to receive help.

With her thoughts and the reasons Jiraiya providing her influencing her slightly, Tsunade finally came to a conclusion. "I have made up my mind: I will wait until Naruto is within the Land of Fire before sending out any teams."

Jiraiya sighed out in relief. "That's good."

"I know, that was a very good decision." Tsunade jumped up from her chair and in a feat of inhuman agility, leapt up and flipped herself over the table, and landed beside Jiraiya in startled surprise when she heard a voice of a teenage girl from behind her chair. She was so surprised that she was holding a hand to her chest to calm her rapidly beating heart.

Floating behind the chair was a teenage girl with wild and unruly dark hair that was currently defying gravity and whipping around her face, with yellow glowing eyes and pale snow white skin. Her attire consisted of a pair of dark brown trousers, a short sleeved jacket and a light purple blouse underneath. She wore a pair of shin length boots and had a combat knife, currently sheathed, strapped to her left arm for easy access. A teeny, tiny detail about her that had changed was that she was transparent.

"Hi I'm Samantha Maxis one of Naruto Uzumaki's friends!" She was grinning toothily at them which to be honest looked completely terrifying to Jiraiya and Tsunade considering her overall appearance.


	7. Chapter 6

Dead Rising

Chapter 6

Samantha continued grinning at Tsunade and Jiraiya, finding them staring at her with their eyes wide in shock to be humorous. Normally the ANBU guarding the Hokage tower would have surrounded her the second she appeared. Why they have not is because Samantha was not there in the physical sense not to mention her powers do not require any chakra whatsoever and they therefore cannot detect her. And because of her not being there physically they wouldn't be able to hurt her either. It also helped that she was projecting a small barrier around them, so no one would know what was going on without her consent.

"What's the matter? You two are acting as if you have never seen a ghost?" Samantha stated rhetorically while her disturbing grin never faded from her lips.

Neither of the two in front of her said anything and the room had quickly filled up with tense silence. "...Samantha Maxis?" Tsunade said with caution in her tone and eyes. "You're the one Jiraiya said is friends with Naruto?"

Samantha stopped grinning and gave Tsunade a blank look. "I just said I was Naruto's friend a few seconds ago. Have you not been listening?" The girl with the glowing yellow eyes questioned.

"I heard." Tsunade replied with a nod. "I just wanted to reaffirm what I had heard. Thank you for clearing that up. Now considering you are here right now, I can take an educated guess and say it is not for a social reason?"

"You would be right, Tsunade." Samantha answered as she nodded her head in formality. She now stared at the Hokage with a serious look on her face. "Since Jiraiya already told you to not send people out to retrieve my Naruto, unless he is within the Land of Fire, I'm here to add onto that."

Both Tsunade and Jiraiya narrowed their eyes slightly when they heard the slight obsessive tone in her voice when the girl said 'my Naruto'. It was heard again in Jiraiya's case. Neither of them liked it, as Samantha made it sound as if Naruto was her property.

"And what would you want to add to what Jiraiya said to me?" Asked a curious Tsunade.

Samantha's blank expression was replaced with a threatening scowl as her glowing yellow eyes began to glow even more ominously, along with her hair whipping and coiling itself wildly across her head in a dramatic manner. "If you send anyone after My Naruto when we are in your fucking country, and try to bring him to this fucking place by force, then I will personally kill everyone you send."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes dangerously at the girl. Previous fear now gone Tsunade leaned on her desk and glared Samantha directly in the eyes. "Was that a threat, little girl?" She demanded fiercely. No one threatens her ninja and gets away with it. "Because if that is a threat, then when I get my hands on you, I will make you choke on it."

Samantha sneered at the woman. "You? Threatening me?" She scoffed mockingly at the woman, causing her to grit her teeth in irritation at the audacity the girl had. "As if. But to answer your question: no. What I said was not a threat; it was a promise. And as for you getting your hands on me and 'making me choke on it'..." The girl trailed off before she literally walked in and through the desk and out the other side, with Tsunade backing away from her; her eyes not leaving the girl. "Good luck on trying to do that. Not only will My Naruto not stand for that, he will more than likely kill you. He does, after all, despise the place that ignored and neglected him."

"What if we do send people out, but try to retrieve him through peaceful means?" Jiraiya quickly interjected as he saw Tsunade was about to blow a gasket and try to pummel a literal living ghost. "Not only would Naruto be given a choice to come home or not, but no one will have to die, and NO ONE would be able to force him into doing anything. Would that be suitable?"

Samantha was staring at Jiraiya as she rubbed her chin while she seriously considered this. Meanwhile Tsunade was staring at Jiraiya as if he had made a deal with the devil. The Toad Sage didn't see what the problem was; not only would Tsunade be able to send out teams, but they have to try to tempt Naruto in returning to Konohagakure through peaceful means rather than force.

No force equals no deaths. It's a win-win solution. Unless you consider Naruto can refuse and they can't do jack-squat about it; because that would be a win-lose situation.

"Those terms...are acceptable." Samantha replied after she had finished with her thoughts on it. The girl stared between the two and gave them a hard look. "But I will not make any promises on Naruto not killing anyone you send after him. He does tend to get annoyed fairly easy and is a little... patient, when it comes to people he does not know who annoy him."

"A little patient?" Jiraiya exclaimed with a sceptical look on his face. "He straight up murdered a Kumogakure ninja because he was taunting him." He pointed out to the little girl, and reminding Tsunade of how different he is in comparison to the Naruto they remembered. "Sure the others that were with him said he was a prick and that he had it coming, but still! He murdered someone in cold blood! That does not strike me as someone who has little patience."

"Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai annoy each other all the time. They sometimes drag Naruto into their fights and he never 'straight up murdered someone in cold blood' because they always annoy one another."

Jiraiya snorted dismissively at her response. What a load of bullshit. Naruto told him he killed Juro because he felt like it. That alone tells him Naruto would have no qualms about killing people he doesn't know, or doesn't like that annoys him. When Nikolai threatened to kill him Naruto didn't react violently because he knew what the man was like. If it were someone that was part of his group he was sure Naruto would not hesitate to kill the person that threatened him.

"Naruto had been with you people for three whole years. Not to mention he was 13 at the time and wouldn't have been able to do anything to them compared to their sheer size and height. He had those years to warm up to you all, so he doesn't mind you arguing or insulting one another because he is used to it. Not to mention the four of you are close to him." Tsunade was silently watching the exchange between the two as she found it interesting. She paid more attention to Samantha rather than her former team mate though. Seeing the state of the girl Tsunade's medical side was calling out to her. The glowing yellow eyes; the pale snow white skin; the lack of chakra; everything about this girl was screaming 'impossible'. She HAD to know how the lack of chakra was possible? Rock Lee is unable to use chakra, yet he still has enough flowing through his chakra points to live.

This girl did not. Which should be impossible as all living things needed chakra in order for them to live.

Neither Samantha nor Jiraiya saw the glint in the woman's eyes however as they were still arguing with one another. "He even straight up told me that the Naruto I knew is very, very unlikely to come back before threatening the other ninja along with myself with death. Therefore your argument is invalid." Jiraiya stated with finality in his voice.

Her argument is invalid...? Samantha had a twitching eyebrow as those words kept repeating in her head. Her argument...is...invalid...? While she didn't have anything to refute those words, as she knew it was true, there was something she could do... Staring up at the man with squinting eyes, Samantha casually flicked her wrist. Jiraiya suddenly doubled over as his oxygen was exhaled forcibly from his lungs. It felt like he was punched. Then he was thrown off his feet and into the door behind him where he then slid down to the floor groaning in pain as he held his stomach. No one outside of the office had heard it thanks to the barrier Samantha had set up.

Glaring at the groaning man, Samantha huffed to herself and nodded to herself in satisfaction. "First of all: I know Naruto better than anyone. So if I say he is a little impatient toward' people he does not know or that annoy him; then he is a little impatient towards people he does not know and that annoys him." She stated calmly before her tone became threatening halfway through her sentence. "So I believe you need to shut the fuck up about something you know nothing about." She said to the man dispassionately before she turned to the Hokage and glared darkly at her when she saw the glint in the woman's eyes. She recognised that look. Richtofen had given her that same look when he injected Element 115 into her. "And if I see you giving me that look again, I will make your life a Living. Fucking. Nightmare. Understand?"

Not wanting to end up like her team-mate, Tsunade rapidly nodded her head. She threw Jiraiya into her office door with just a flick of her wrist when she was irritated. She did not want to see what that girl could do if she was pissed off.

Samantha nodded her head once more in satisfaction before looking between the two. "Remember: if you send your people out to retrieve Naruto, I will not hesitate to kill them if they attempt to force him back against his will." With her words said Samantha closed her eyes and dispersed into particles, heading back to her main body before Tsunade could reply.

Jiraiya groaned as he slowly got to his feet as he held his stomach in an attempt to ease the throbbing sensations from that mental punch. With squinting eyes Jiraiya stared at the Hokage, who was gazing at the place Samantha once was with an unreadable look.

"Tsunade?" He called out to her worryingly.

"Is she human?" The big breasted woman questioned suddenly without taking her eyes off of the spot Samantha once was.

"Pardon?" The Toad Sage questioned with squinting eyes.

Tsunade then brought her gaze to the Toad Sage and repeated her question while clarifying what she wanted to know from him. "Samantha Maxis; is she human? Is she an undead?"

Coughing into his hand to clear his throat Jiraiya looked at Tsunade in the eyes and gave her the honest answer; "To tell you the truth, I don't have the slightest idea." He said with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. "The girl herself doesn't have the slightest clue as to what she is. Why do you ask?"

"I'm asking because that girl had no chakra. The only time when you don't have chakra is when you're deceased." Tsunade made her way back behind her desk and sat in the chair and leaned on her desk with a tired sigh. This was stressing for her. Not only was she trying to keep the morale of her soldiers' up, she had to make sure Konohagakure had enough supplies being reproduced so they could last several months. Then Jiraiya came along without warning, and then Samantha Maxis herself appeared shortly after.

There was no way in hell she was going to tell anyone about this. She was so sure if she had told any of her ninja about Naruto's whereabouts, they would hound her to let them venture out there and bring him home. Either peacefully or through force. She was actually glad that war-hawk Danzo was killed during the first few months of the zombie outbreak. If he were still alive, and he caught wind of this, he would have sent out his Root ninja to bring the boy back against his will.

Jiraiya internally sighed as he scratched the side of his neck. If she found that out then he'd might as well tell her about the other three as well. "...Now that you pointed that out to me, Naruto did say the people he is with has no chakra at all. I could detect Naruto in Yugakure but not the other four."

Tsunade stared at the Toad Sage with squinting eyes. "And you didn't tell me this... why?" She demanded from him.

Blinking Jiraiya merely shrugged his shoulders. "With everything that happened just minutes ago it slipped my mind."

Tsunade groaned as she leaned into her arms. Slipped his mind her ass. She would bet all of her sake he wasn't planning on telling her of it until it was convenient. Then again, he did just get through a zombie attack, and was reunited briefly with his godson.

"So we're dealing with a group of people who does not use chakra at all. Which means they are similar to the zombies."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Jiraiya." Tsunade said, as she lowered her arms from her eyes so she could look at her friend unhindered. "The zombies don't have a working chakra network within their body. So most chakra based attacks won't do a thing on them. That would also mean most chakra based attacks will not work on the girl, or the other three who are currently with the brat."

"That does pose a problem." Jiraiya said while he rubbed his chin. "While we do have the advantage of being able to use chakra, they too have an advantage in the form of their weaponry. Are you going to attempt on bringing Naruto back home?"

The Senju woman shook her head negatively. "No. Not until he is in the Land of Fire at the very least. With Samantha being able to do that to you without the use of chakra, I shudder to think what that girl is capable of when she is directing her anger to someone that has earned her wrath."

Jiraiya nodded in complete agreement with the woman. The force that impacted on his stomach felt like a really, really hard punch. Not to mention he didn't sense the girl using any chakra when she flicked her wrist. Jiraiya had a feeling Samantha was a similar to a sleeping dragon. Annoy her enough and she would explode and lash out at everything around her to a devastating degree.

He had no idea just how right he was in that regard. Samantha was a spirit/zombie/human that was in complete control of the undead in her dimension before Richtofen completely screwed everyone over. If Samantha were to snap and lash out at everyone around her in anger not only would everyone be in danger of her power, but only one person would be able to calm her down.

Not that he knew that; and he will most likely never know of that.

Life is a bitch like that.

X.X.X.X

Naruto let out a loud cry as he stabbed a gas crawler in the middle of its head before yanking the blade out. A little ways on his left, Tank Dempsey could be seen Spartan kicking a sprinter zombie in the chest, sending it staggering back before the marine took aim with his M-16 and blew its head off of its shoulders. Grinning with sickening glee Dempsey took aim at a crowd of approaching Runners and unleashed hell upon them; gunning them all down in seconds. Leaving a red mist at their demise.

On Naruto's right Takeo and Nikolai could be seen; Takeo was using his katana to fend off the zombies in close quarters. The limbs of the undead would fly off in several directions as they were cleanly severed from the main body of the zombies. With a thrust he impaled a zombie through the chest with the long katana blade, before in a great display of human strength dragged the blade upwards, cutting through bone and sinew like a hot knife through butter, essentially breaking the zombie in two from the stomach up.

Meanwhile Nikolai somehow, some way, was using his PPSh-41 with only one hand. The Soviet was firing his sub-machine gun in short bursts so the recoil wouldn't be too much of a strain on his arm. In his other hand was a bottle filled with gasoline that had a piece of cloth sticking out of the top. How he had managed to get a bottle with gasoline in it was anyone's guess.

The four of them were holding their own despite the overwhelming numbers pitted against them. If it weren't for the fact they had been doing this on a daily basis, the four of them would be overwhelmed and overrun by them by this time.

Working as a team the four covered each other as they slowly made their way back to the bridge where they were at the beginning. They all knew the zombies are coming at them in one direction. If they head toward' the bridge and keep their movements in the direction of the wooden structure they would be able to slowly back themselves toward the Land of Frost as long as they don't get out manoeuvred. They would have stayed and try to retake the Juggernog soda machine. But with a large army of zombies standing between them and it' they quickly abandoned that plan.

They are skilled; not suicidal.

Steadily backing away Naruto re-aimed his M-16 toward a horde of zombies on his left flank where Tank Dempsey was. The teen quickly shifted his aim so the former Marine Raider would not be within his line of fire. Naruto pulled the trigger and watched as the zombies were cut to pieces with Dempsey soon joining in. The combined fire power of Naruto and Dempsey had put the horde down in seconds and left a bloody red mist in their wake.

"Molotov!" Nikolai yelled out warningly; Takeo, Naruto and Dempsey hearing the warning all moved out of the way. Having a clear way to throw Nikolai drew back his hand that held the bottle and threw it. Only to realize a mistake he had made just after he had thrown the bottle. "Oh-shit! I forgot to ignite the cloth!" He exclaimed frantically, just as the bottle shattered against one of the zombies' head. The now gasoline drenched zombie staggered back from the impact and was quickly over taken by the other zombies.

Both Naruto and Dempsey stared at Nikolai incredulously, while Takeo stared at the Russian with a deadpanned look before bringing his attention to the zombies. The Imperial Soldier continued hacking, slashing and beheading any zombie that got within the range of his katana' blade.

"You moron!" Exclaimed Naruto and Dempsey simultaneously. "How could you forget something like that?!" Dempsey added before he smashed the butt of his assault rifle on the face of a zombie that had tried to take him by surprise by latch onto him. He Spartan kicked the zombie in the chest, flipped his rifle so the barrel of the gun was facing the correct way, and took aim at the zombies' head before pulling the trigger. The zombie fell to the ground on its back with a large chunk of its head missing.

"Hey! This Russian was under too much pressure!" Nikolai exclaimed defensively before he and the others quickly began to back up as the zombies renewed their approach. The four of them were getting pushed back and the fact they could change that by actually using their assault rifles and sub-machine guns was not lost on them.

"Your lack of thinking ahead is of no consequence Nikki." Takeo said as he carefully examined the crowd of zombies for the one that was hit with the Molotov. Quickly moving back so he could stay ahead of the fast moving zombies Takeo reached for his M1911 before holding it out in front of him. Taking aim Takeo squinted his eyes as he tried to find a zombie that was drenched. Which was rather difficult considering just how many of them there are and how many times he had been forced to take care of any zombies or crawlers that tried to blind side him with his katana.

Seeing as he was about to get overwhelmed on his side Naruto quickly jogged backwards, taking turns to look over his shoulder to see where he was going, and in front of himself to see just how close the zombies were to getting their cold dead hands on him.

"What do you mean there is no consequence?" Naruto questioned the moment he was beside Takeo. "There's nothing to inflame them with!"

"Tell me Naruto, what do we use to fire our bullets?" Takeo questioned the teen as he raised his hand gun and closed one eye so he could take aim better.

"Gunpowder, what does that have to... Oh... Ohhhhh..." He said in realization. The gunpowder in their guns can be used to ignite anything flammable. And gasoline is a flammable liquid and is very, very hard to get off. Even blood wouldn't be enough to get it off. Aiming his M-16 at the zombies Naruto said with confidence in his voice; "I get it now. We find the one that is drenched and shoot it, then it and everything around it will get caught in flames."

"Indeed. Nikolai's blunder can still be taken advantage of." Takeo squint his eyes, as he searched for the zombie that got drenched by Nikolai's failed attempt at burning them. Seeing the drenched zombie he was looking for Takeo opened fire. The bullet missed its mark; it had instead put a hole in another zombie that had conveniently gotten in Takeo's line of fire.

Naruto cursed when he heard his gun give out the dreaded 'click' when he pulled the trigger. The magazine was out of bullets. Growling Naruto hurriedly removed the empty magazine, tossed it to the ground, and got a fresh one from his ammo pouch. Taking aim once more Naruto opened fire and easily laid waste to the zombies. He saw a gas zombie crawling to him, and it was surrounded from all sides by the sprinters and runners. Naruto smiled a grim smile and redirected his line of fire to the gas zombie and pulled the trigger. The gas zombie after being riddled with bullets, flipped onto its back and curled up on itself like a spider before the green gas exploded from it. All the zombies around and in close proximity of it inhaled the gas before they collapsed to the ground dead seconds later. The only ones being unaffected by the gas were the other gas zombies who kept crawling toward the zombie slayers uninterrupted.

Still squinting Takeo spotted the drenched zombie through the gas cloud and took the opportunity to fire in the large gap Naruto had provided him. The bullet connected to its target and the zombie was set ablaze before the flames quickly spread to the other zombies given the close proximity they were to the now burning to re-death undead.

Nikolai and Dempsey both took a quick glance at the zombie covered in flames that was beginning to spread the fire among its brethren in a rapid pace. Turning to look halfway over his shoulder Dempsey bellowed out, "Everyone fall back and regroup at the bridge! Let's go!" While he was in close proximity to the other members of his group, they were still among a large horde of zombies. So Dempsey had to yell over the moaning, grunting and howling of the undead just so the other three could hear him. Hearing his order' Takeo and Nikolai, Naruto and Dempsey all turned around and retreated to the bridge in a full sprint.

To buy them some time Naruto grabbed one of his grenades' inside one of his ammo pouches, removed the pin and held it for two seconds before tossing the cooked grenade over his shoulder and at the burning zombies. The four were a respectable distance away when the grenade exploded taking several zombies with it.

Several minutes of running and twists and turns later we find the group of four back at the bridge where they first came to Yugakure. They were all nervous and edgy; even though they didn't look like they were. They could hear the moans and groans from the runner and sprinter zombies' and even the howls of the gas zombies in the background.

"I should have gotten the Juggernog soda when I had the chance." Naruto exclaimed in bitter complaint. "This would have made fighting the zombies' a lot easier."

Takeo grunted lowly as he removed the magazine from his Type 100 to weight it in order to see how much ammo he had left within. It did not weight as much when it was completely full, so if Takeo had to guess the magazine was somewhere around being half-full/half-empty. "Opportunities come and go, young one. You will receive your chance to obtain the perk in the nearby future." The Asian man stated in a wizen tone, all the while placing the half-empty magazine back in the slot on the side of his weapon.

"I agree with Takeo. It is not end of world." Nikolai said in agreement with Takeo's statement.

"So what's our plan here? Does two of us take care of any zombies that show themselves on the rooftops, and the rest takes care of the rest on the ground? Or do we fight them wherever they show themselves?" Questioned Naruto as he gazed at each of the three men individually.

"We should fight them whenever they show themselves." Dempsey replied as he kept an eye and ear out for the zombies. The moans and groans weren't getting closer to their position for the moment so the four of them had some time left to plan a strategy. "It's going to be completely chaotic when they get here anyway so choosing whose going to shoot where isn't going to make too much of a difference in the long run. Do any of you two still have any bouncing Betties or Claymore mines left?" The marine added, looking at Takeo and Nikolai expectantly for an answer.

To his disappointment the two of them shook their heads negatively. "We used them all. From how there are no more explosions going off in the background I think they are all destroyed." Nikolai was the one that provided Dempsey the verbal answer.

"Dammit." The marine cursed with a disappointed scowl. "We could've used them right about now." He sighed before shrugging his shoulders. "Oh well, nothing we can do about that. We can only guess the trap mines you two had set up had taken out a couple of hundred of those maggot sacks. Add on the amount of zombies we personally put down, they must've lost a good chunk of their numbers."

"Not to mention the explosions must have damaged some of the buildings here. A lot of them ARE made out of wood after all. Some of the zombies may have to backtrack." Naruto pointed out to remind them.

"So that may give us even more time." Dempsey said with a thoughtful look on his face. Narrowing his eyes Dempsey began to search through his ammo pouch. "Out of the five magazines I had for my assault rifle, I have one left, excluding the one in the chamber. The ammo for my Remington Model revolver is full." The marine stated before he looked at the others. "What about you guys?"

Seeing the need to know how much ammo they had for their weapons, all three of them had quickly gone through their ammo pouch to see how much ammunition they had left for their guns. It didn't look good for them. "I have two for my PPSh-41, including the one I am using. I have five, including the one already in the chamber for my Colt." Nikolai answered as the first of them.

"I have one left, including the one in the chamber of my M-16. Like Nikolai my pistol ammo is full." Naruto answered seconds after Nikolai had.

"I have three, including the one in the slot of my Type 100. Like Naruto and Nikki, I have five magazines for my sidearm." Takeo grunted out. He had been fighting off a majority of zombies without the use of his sub-machine gun or side arm. He had been using his katana; so the fact Takeo had wasted only one magazine made sense.

"Ok so we have enough ammo to last us for a while. Everyone apart from Naruto and Nikolai has two grenades to be used. With those we can hold our ground here for the moment." He paused to catch his breath and looked toward the bridge. "If we're about to be overwhelmed then we have to head toward that bridge; make sure we don't get flanked."

Naruto had a smirk pulling at the right corner of his lips. "Heh, I have the confidence in us when I say we will pull through this situation. We have been in worse situations than this after all."

With that said Dempsey and Takeo and Nikolai and Naruto all got themselves into position; standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder, the group of zombie slayers all aimed their guns in the direction they came from. With the bridge on their fight, if they were about to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers they would be able to cross it to get themselves out of danger.

It wasn't long until the first zombie showed its ugly decaying head. Naruto fired the first shot. The zombie jerked back and fell to the ground dead when the bullet easily tore through its skull. Not long after the first zombie died several more started to show themselves. Naruto, Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai knowing they had to be careful with their ammo all fired in bursts. They also special care to make sure they were aiming at their weak spot: the head.

They also redirected their attention to the gas zombies immediately when they showed themselves, since they kill any other zombies around them once they expel the gas upon their death. Despite having runners and sprinters coming at them the group was able to stand their ground. Sometimes only one or two zombies' managed to reach them, but they were easily taken down by a stab to the head before they could cause problems for them. When there was a big crowd of them, the group would deal with that by tossing a grenade among them as to split them up.

So far there had been two of these zombie crowds, and Takeo and Dempsey were the ones to have taken care of them with their own grenades. Like before the corpses began to pile up in a heap, forcing the zombies to move slower as they tried to climb on and over the corpses or go around them. After several minutes of this the zombies did something that took the group by surprise.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Dempsey exclaimed with wide eyes.

They leapt. They literally leapt over the pile and keeping their momentum as they landed on the ground, they rolled along the floor before shooting back up to their feet and continued making their way toward them. They were taken down by a well placed shot to the forehead. However' seeing as more and more zombies were now leaping over the bodies of the fallen the zombies were much closer to reaching them.

Seeing they would not be able to hold their position any longer Tank Dempsey, Takeo Masaki, Naruto Uzumaki and Nikolai Belinski in that order started making their way towards the bridge.

They provided covering fire for one another as they slowly made their way to the bridge and to give them a head start on Naruto threw his remaining grenade at the zombie crowd. He laughed with sickening glee when he saw the limbs go flying when the grenade exploded. Once the grenade went off the group turned on their heels and started running for their very lives. All the while they changed the magazines for their guns.

Once they got to the other side they all stopped, turned, took aim and pulled the trigger. They all had forgone using burst fire since there was no need for them to do so anymore. The zombies were funnelling their way over the bridge; and with nowhere for the dead to go except back or off the railings, all they had to do was aim at their heads and unleash hell on them. Since the zombie slayers were aiming at the heads the zombies were going down like flies and Nikolai sped up their demise by throwing his last grenade among them. Given the structure was rather weak from the decomposition of time the wood had given away to the force of the explosion. Not to mention the wood had caught alight and put the bridge in flames.

Everyone couldn't help but stare at Nikolai incredulously. First Nikolai brought down an entire building with a grenade; though the structure itself was completely weak, because of the quick speed decomposition the earth was suffering for the past three years. And now Nikolai had set a bridge aflame with yet another grenade. It's like the Russian is an instigator for disaster.

They redirection their attention back to the flaming bridge when they heard something move slowly across the bridge. While slow in pace the footsteps sounded more like stomps and was heard even over the moaning and groaning of the dead. It gave them an ominous feeling. Looking unsure the zombie slayers shared a look with one another, then turned their gaze back to the burning bridge and took aim. They didn't open fire. Instead they waited for whatever was making its way across the burning bridge.

The four winced and took a few steps back when the heat of the flames had drastically risen all of a sudden. It wasn't long until they saw a literal burning corpse slowly make its way through the flames.

"No... No, not these guys again! I thought we were done with them after Shangri-La!" Dempsey distress-fully said in exclamation. He and the others were slowly backing away from the flaming zombie as it slowly walked to them with a low growl.

The Napalm zombie, or Pyro zombie as it is commonly known among the zombie slayers, is a fifth type of undead. Very dangerous; very difficult to fight without the right equipment. The Pyro zombie is a humanoid undead; it overall has a very charred appearance and is missing its lower jaw leaving the mouth to be gaping open. It's only decency is wearing a pair of ragged trousers. There was a massive opening in its abdomen, and had large chunks of skin and muscle missing on its body, including the facial area; allowing everyone to see the fire burning underneath its surface.

"Tank we don't have the right equipment to fight this thing." Naruto said nervously; he never liked those things. They were virtually impervious to damage, unless you had a Wonder Weapon in your possession. And neither of them had any of those powerful guns and devices.

"I know that. Just keep your distance and it won't explode on us." The marine advised. No one argued with that; they knew how dangerous one Napalm zombie was and none of them were eager to fight it, knowing just how difficult they are to kill.

"The other undead are backing off!" Nikolai exclaimed when he noticed the lack of runner, sprinter and gas zombies moving across the bridge. He saw them standing at the edge of the cliff that blocked them from getting to their side. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he was wondering why they weren't coming over the bridge as well. It's not like the flames are able to kill them right away. They would be weaker than they normally are but the flames will not off them instantly.

Then it came to him. "They're using tactics!" The Soviet said in sudden realization. His exclamation got everyone's attention on him as he continued. "They got us to waste our ammo so we would not be able to deal with this bastard!"

"It's like Shangri-La all over again. They got us to focus on them so we were unable to take care of the Pyro zombie! Just fucking great." Dempsey added in a deadpan toward the end; basically saying what Nikolai had just said only in much longer and unnecessary words.

The bridge began to creek and crack as the flames finally withered the supports down. Then with a snap the burning bridge finally collapsed and tumbled down the cliff, destroyed beyond repair. There was no way for the zombie crew to get back to the other side now that the structure was gone. Not that they would have since it was now completely overrun. And seeing as they were no longer within close proximity, the four zombie slayers saw flashes of light raising to the sky in various sections of Yugakure and the perk machines being lifted to the atmosphere by some invisible force until it had left their line of sight, followed by a another faint flashes of light that signalled their final departure.

He and the others were a fair distance away from Yugakure when that happened and was still backing away from the pyro zombie that never let up on its slow paced approach. It left flaming footprints with every step it took.

"Well there goes the bridge, perks and weapons." Naruto said offhandedly after the light show was done. "So...who wants to be the one to get it to blow itself up?" He asked as he glanced at the others; he was hoping one of them would do it instead of volunteering himself. The last several times he volunteered he got scorched from both the heat and fire when the dammed thing blew up.

When they were almost 20 yards away from the cliff side, 14 patches of flames suddenly appeared on the ground. Naruto, Dempsey and Nikolai all audibly cursed as they saw 14 pyro zombies make their appearance. Takeo merely growled and scowled at their appearance. This was just unfair. The 14 pyro zombies pulled themselves out of the ground from within the patch of flames and once they were free from the earth they started their slow pace stalk like walk to the four heroes.

"Yeah..." Naruto began in a deadpan when he saw one pyro zombie turn to fifteen. "...totally not doing that."

Before any of them could make a reply everyone yelled out in startled surprise when they were unexpectedly blinded by a flash of light. This was followed by them feeling weightless as if they were floating in mid-air. The four grunted when they felt their feet touch solid ground and bent their legs to absorb the impact.

The energy signature that is associated with Naruto and Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai and Samantha was felt throughout the Elemental Nations with their departure. And being the closest to them, the defence unit at the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost were the ones to have felt it first. It would be some time before the Raikage himself had felt their departure from the Elemental Nations.

Following shortly was the blindness they had suffered fading away from their vision, allowing them to see the familiar endless dimension they were in before. Looking down at themselves Naruto and Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai all noticed any blood they may had gotten from the fighting on the surface world was completely gone, and their weapons excluding their side arms which was still in the holster were now gone.

"We're back?" Naruto said in relief. He had not been eager to take on a pyro zombie again. Let alone 15 of them at the same time. "Samantha! You around here somewhere?" He yelled out, looking around their surroundings when he realised they were a person short.

"Ja, I am here Naruto..." She tiredly replied in her normal German accent. The group all looked to their left when they heard the girl's voice originate from. Only to find no sign of Samantha being there. Then just as Naruto opened his mouth to ask her where she was, they all saw the teenage girl materialise herself out of particles. "Sorry I vas late in getting you four out of zhere, but I vas preoccupied vith something." She apologized to them once she had fully materialised.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto replied waving off her apology as if it were no big deal. Which it wasn't in his eyes. However, what had gotten her occupied enough to make her late in getting them out of there had peaked his interest. "What were you preoccupied with?"

There was some hesitance from the girl; and after a moment of thought Samantha relented with the knowledge of keeping this information from Naruto and the others would do more harm than good. "Konohagakure is planning on sending out teams to retrieve you." She started getting wide eyes from everyone. "Originally zhey vere planning on trying to convince you to come back, and, if you refused zhen zhey vould bring you back against your vill."

Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Samantha...I want you to tell me everything."

And with a tired sigh Samantha proceeded to tell them everything she knew. From Jiraiya telling Tsunade about his amnesia, to his personality change, and his closeness to the rest of the group. And when that was done she then explained that Tsunade was originally going to send out a team or two to retrieve him if they had gotten a location on him. However Jiraiya to denied that plan and give her a reason on why she should not. So she settled for sending out teams if they happened to be within' the Land of Fire. Then she go through with it and after some thought on the man's, and likely her own, reasons decided to not send people out to bring him back unless he was in the Land of Fire itself.

After that was done, Samantha then told the four about how she revealed herself to Tsunade, after she declared she would not send anyone to get Naruto back unless he was in the Land of Fire, and threatened to kill anyone she sent after her friend if they attempted to force him back against his will.

She kept out some minor things however. Such as her being a little territorial and obsessive when it came to Naruto and his safety. There was no way she was going to let some stuck up pricks take her friend away from her and get away with it. At the end everyone was surprised and stumped at what they had been told. But none was more so than Naruto himself who was staring at the girl with wide astonished eyes. He knew he was good friends with her but he never expected Samantha to go that far. He was touched.

"So let me get this straight and see if I got this right; they pretty much want Naruto back and were going to send people out to bring him back. That old man, Jiraiya, told the boss lady to not send people out unless we were in their territory." Dempsey paused for a short moment to regain his breath before continuing. "Then you came along, and pretty much said to them that you were going to kill anyone they had sent after Naruto if they tried to bring him back against his will if the peaceful way didn't work. Did I get that right?" Dempsey asked after he summed up what Samantha had told them.

"Ja. Zhat is zhe bases of vhat I had said." The girl nodded her head in confirmation.

"Something tells me that is not the entire story." Takeo stated thoughtfully. "They are perhaps using the retrieval of our comrade as a cover to seize our weaponry, and replicate them for their own use."

Naruto couldn't help but shake his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. That assumption made a whole lot of sense. The Elemental Nations is behind on the times of technology. The remaining kunoichi from Kumogakure and Jiraiya saw their guns in action. Plus Nikolai did say there was a very high chance the leaders of the Hidden Villages would take their weapons and replicate them; that was one of the reasons why Naruto did not choose to join any of them.

There was no way in hell he was going to let any of the Hidden Villages get their hands on his things they were already capable of dangerous things without guns. There was no need for them to add onto that.

Naruto sighed in irritation. "That's just fucking great. We're going to have to keep an eye out for any ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village if that's the case." The teen let out another irritated sigh as he shook his head. "If they try to bring me back against my will, can I count on you to help me when I need it?"

"Bah, if they were to try and force you to go back, then they will get face full of Russian steel!" Nikolai loyally exclaimed while he dramatically raised his fist and clenched it in front of his face.

"I'm with Nikolai; you're my friend, and you've been with us from the very beginning; helping us through thick and thin. I'm sticking with you." Said Dempsey to Naruto in a moment of rare seriousness.

"I am not one for words, but, I will stand by you when they come before us." Takeo said when Naruto had turned to him to see what he had to say.

Naruto didn't bother to ask Samantha as she had told them her answer already. Not to mention she said to them all that they already heard what she was going to do if the Leaf ninja tried to force him back against his will.

"Thanks you guys." He said. "And girl." He hastily added when he heard Samantha let out an unamused huff when he called her a guy.

"And don't you forget it." Samantha said while nodding to herself with satisfaction on her face.

Naruto let out an amused snort and crossed his arms as he shook his head. After calming himself the blonde looked at Samantha with all traces of past amusement gone. "It's about zhe Napalm zombies is it not?" She questioned when she saw the serious look on her friends face.

"Yeah. How did you know?" To answer Naruto's question Samantha merely pointed behind them; following the direction the girl was pointing Naruto and Nikolai and Takeo and Dempsey all saw the tactical map that conveniently appeared behind them. Naruto blinked dumbly for a moment before he began nodding in understanding. "So that was how you knew."

Since the group had left for Yugakure the tactical map had not left the last place it was on. Which was Yugakure. The tactical map was still processing in real time showing the group the now overrun Yugakure. They all saw just how lucky they were to have gotten out of there unharmed. There was thousands of them, Sprinters; Runners; Gas zombies all of them could be seen running through the alleyways, buildings and streets of Yugakure. The former Hidden Village was completely overrun.

A fair distance away, where the bridge used to be was a small army of Napalm zombies. What was 15 was now a staggering 30 and was slowly building. Not far behind them the zombies were preforming an inhuman feat by jumping over the cliff and landing on the other side before making their way toward' the direction of the Land of Frost.

Dempsey shook his head in disbelief as he stared with wide eyes. "Fucking hell. I knew there was an army heading to that place, but Pyro zombies and the creepy crawlers combined with Runners and Sprinters? If they manage to break through that wall they are going to have a tough time holding their position." As he said this 4 red circles appeared on the map with name tags attached to each circle that had the words 'Gas Zombies', 'Runners', 'Sprinters', 'Napalm/Pyro Zombies' to show the five where each of them were. Then several arrows started to extend from the circles, all of them leading to a single place; the Kumogakure defence force.

"We didn't even slow them down. They're just jumping over the cliff and continuing on their merry way." Naruto said frustratingly.

With no bridge allowing them to pass over the cliff, instead of turning back and trying to find another way around they were instead jumping over the cliffs edge. The zombies have indeed gotten smarter.

"It seems your earlier assessment was right Samantha." Said Dempsey as he tore his eyes away from the tactical map and brought his gaze to the girl in question. "Before you went away with those ninja, there was no sign of any Napalm zombies; and then shortly after you took the ninja away, they appeared out of nowhere. There is something going on here and I don't like it." The marine concluded his assessment in a rather grim and edgy tone.

"Could it be someone like Samantha?" Naruto questioned with curiosity showing on his face and in his voice before expanding his clarification when he saw the looks he was being given. "You know, before she and Richtofen switched bodies?"

"Oh god; I sure hope not." Said Dempsey as he rubbed the side of his neck as he pulled a face at the thought of someone similar to Samantha in control of the dead. "Because – no offense to you Samantha - if we're dealing with someone like her before she and Richtofen switched bodies, then I hope beyond hope that we don't have to go all the way to the fucking moon just to stop all of this from happening."

"Maybe we would have to do something that is incredibly and unnecessarily complicated? Something that is similar to what we did in Shangri-La?"

Everyone turned to stare at Naruto with questionable looks on their face. "What? Where we had to go back in the past several times just to change the fate of some nameless people?" Dempsey asked as he narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Well... Not exactly like that." Naruto slowly said as he shook his head from side to side. "What I was thinking was us managing to find a way to teleport ourselves to the past, before the zombies came along. However instead of saving two people from a horrible fate, we would be trying to stop the zombies themselves from bringing the Elemental Nations into the sorry state we find it today."

"I can see five of us doing that." Nikolai said after a moment of silence had passed.

"I can see us doing that too." Dempsey added with a nod to Nikolai's statement. His eyes went wide when he remembered them talking about the Elemental Staffs and their possible locations. "But before we do that however, we still need to know where the hell the other Elemental Staffs are."

The other three simultaneously said "Oh..." in remembrance of what they were walking about before they got here. The Elemental Staffs; they were planning on finding out where they are located in the Elemental Nations and retrieve them once their location has been found.

"This map of the continent can provide us with possible locations." Takeo stated as he gestured to the tactical map.

"If only there was a way for us to discover these locations though." Added Dempsey. The man was staring and analysing the tactical map with focused and keen, yet squinted eyes while rubbing his roughly fuzzed up chin. "If you all remember what I had said before, the Staff of Lightning could possibly be in the Land of Lightning; the Staff of Wind in the Land of Wind, and lastly, the Staff of Ice in the Land of Water." As the marine said that, the locations on the tactical map were marked off, both showing and reminding the group where each country was in case they had forgotten where they were.

"You forget the staffs can be anywhere in the Elemental Nations. Not just in the countries you mentioned." Naruto pointed out with a raised finger. He bit his lower lip as he stared at the tactical map with analysing eyes. "Unless we find a way to find them, then the search would be similar to looking for a needle in a haystack."

Takeo with a thoughtful frown held out his hand in front of him. The Staff of Fire materialised out of particles and the samurai gripped it tightly in his hands when it fully assembled. Everyone was looking at him with furrowed brows now. "Perhaps the answer which we seek lays with the staff itself?" He said to them all as he examined the Staff of Fire with curiosity.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Nikolai said with a light frown as himself and the others stared at the Staff of Fire in Takeo's hands. "But it will not hurt to try and see." The Russian concluded as he brought his gaze to the tactical map.

"But HOW do we do it?" Dempsey asked as he stressed the word 'how' to them. "You do have a point, that the staff can give us the answers we need in order to know where the others are, if they happen to exist. But what I want to know is how do we use the staff to give us the needed answers?"

The group shared a look with one another wondering if any of them has an idea on how to get the information they need. Scratching the side of his head Naruto exhaled softly and said, "Well it's not like we can have a pedestal similar to the one we found in the Land of Waves appear in front of us."

As if someone had answered to his request a pedestal similar to the one they had found in the Land of Waves suddenly materialised in front of them. They all blinked once, twice, thrice. Then all had brought their gaze to a wide eyed Naruto, who was staring at the pedestal that had materialised itself out of nowhere.

Cue the silence that would last for nearly ten minutes. The silence was eventually broken by Naruto. "Well... I guess the term 'ask and ye shall receive' was literal in this case." He then got close to the stand and examined it with keen eyes. They narrowed when he noticed there was a slot right in the middle that appeared to fit the Staff of Fire. "Takeo, come here for a second and take a look at this." When Takeo walked beside him Naruto pointed at the slot in the middle on top of the pedestal and said, "Can you insert the bottom of the staff in that slot?"

Nodding wordlessly Takeo raised the staff with both hands and making sure the bottom part was aligned correctly with the slot, the samurai brought the staff down and watched as the bottom was inserted in the slot. Takeo and Naruto looked at one another when they heard a mechanical 'clunk' sound out from within the pedestal when the bottom of the staff was inserted in the slot. Releasing his grip on the futuristic staff Takeo along with Naruto took a few steps back and and brought their eyes to the tactical map to see if anything new appeared.

At first nothing happened for a few minutes; then just when they were about to give up three images, looking very similar to the Staff of Fire appeared. The first image is on the Land of Water, and was of an Elemental Staff shooting out lightning. The second image was in the Land of Earth and was of a staff shooting out ice. The third and final image was in the Land of Lightning, and was an Elemental Staff shooting out a blast of wind. With the images processed and now on the tactical map the pedestal ejected the Staff of Fire from the slot, prompting Takeo to reach out and grab it expertly, where it and the pedestal dematerialised into particles.

They stared at the tactical map in silence. Analysing the images and imprinting them to their memory. The silence was eventually broken by Nikolai who said in exclamation; "That was convenient. Having pedestal appear out of nowhere and then putting staff on top of it to show where other staffs are!"

"Well it did the job." Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah. And now we have our locations narrowed down to three." Added Dempsey.

Nikolai whistled as he took in the sure three locations that is holding the Staves of Lightning, Wind and Ice. "That is a lot of miles to cover though." He said referring to the Lightning, Earth and Water countries. "Would we be teleported in these villages, or some random location where no one knows where to go?"

"Knowing our luck we'd be teleported in the middle of nowhere, where we would then have to do a series of tasks just to get from 'point A' to 'point B' before getting what we finally need." Dempsey stated in bitter complaint. Takeo, Nikolai and Naruto all nodded in grumbling agreement since that had happened to them ever since they had left Kino Der Toten and the amount of tasks, and the way they have to do them seemed to get more and more complicated and even more ridiculous with every new place they visited.

They did travel back in time several times to prevent two guys from being killed by zombies. And to do that, they had to actually go back in time by pushing in some pillars' and then preform a series of weird and outlandish tasks such as finding and matching a pressure plate that had the same images to goading a Napalm zombie into following them and trick it into inflame a gas pipe.

They all turned to Samantha when they heard her sigh out in annoyance. "Hello? Little girl vith zhe power to teleport you to different areas over here?" She flatly said to them while pointing to herself as her face became blank of expressions.

"We know that." Dempsey replied in an annoyed tone as he stared down at Samantha with a look of irritation. "But considering our luck so far it won't be far fetched to say we WILL have to do a bunch of steps before reaching our objective."

"Tank does have a point of you think about it, Samantha." Naruto said with agreement in his tone. "Ascension; Shangri-La; the moon, in those places we had to do a series of tasks in order to reach an objective. Not to mention in almost all the places we have been to, we had to turn on the power first before we could use the Pack-A-Punch and Perk Machines. What's to say we won't have to do something like that in any of these three places?" He concluded in a questioning manner while gesturing to the map in order to refer to the Lightning, Earth and Water Countries.

Sighing in defeat Samantha crossed her arms and nodded in acknowledgement. "You have a point vhen you put it zhat vay. Very vell, I shall concede vith zhat reasoning."

"Now that is out of the way, shall we see the condition of these countries before we choose our next location?" Takeo suggested. Unsurprisingly everyone agreed with him and redirected their attention back to the tactical map now they were no longer distracted.

The Tactical map zoomed out of Yugakure and showed the group an aerial view of the entire battered looking Elemental Nations. The first place the Tactical map went to was the Land of Water, and zoomed in on it.

The group was taken aback on what they saw.

"That's... a lot of mist. That wasn't there before was it?" Dempsey's question went unanswered as everyone else was so focused on the Tactical map to hear him. The field of sight the map was providing them was an incredibly thick mist. They could see nothing through it and that was problematic for them.

With the mist blocking their view that place was a literal death trap. With it so thick that it completely impaired their sight, they will not be able to see the zombies and would have to rely on their hearing and other senses in order to find out where they are. And they knew the undead would not have that restriction.

The Tactical map zoomed out so it showed the entirely of the Elemental Nations once more. Not long after it then zoomed on the Land of Earth. The group was shown a lot of rocky mountains, and they noted they would block off communication with the other countries. The map zoomed out a little and the group was shown the border runs along a rocky mountain range. The land outside and inside the border was dead, reduced what was once a lush green landscape into a barren wasteland, and the death and decay was slowly creeping in on Iwagakure a Hidden Village with buildings that appears to be made of rock and stone; all shaped from large, overhead placements of rock into tower-like structures. Many of its buildings are on cliffs which are connected to a network of bridges.

"Rocky mountains, good defensible position." Nikolai stated in approval. But that approval quickly changed to one of dissatisfaction as he continued. "But it is a living death trap; the inhabitants have nowhere to go if they are attacked. Not to mention those rocky mountains would block off communication from the outside, just like Land of Water."

With that said the Tactical map zoomed out once more and then changed the location before it zoomed in on the Land of Lightning. The country as the group saw was mainly flatland but in the centre are vast mountain ranges. The Hidden Village itself is located in the middle of the mountain ranges, and is quite literally hidden in the clouds. It made the group wonder how no one from there had died from asphyxiation yet. A fair amount of the Land of Lightning's landscape was reduced to a barren wasteland; they remembered there is a defence force at the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost so if they lost the defence over there then Kumogakure would be at a severe disadvantage.

Few minutes of examination later the Tactical map zoomed out again' giving the group the entire view of the Elemental Nations once more.

Dempsey being the badass Devil Dog he is already had his next location picked out.

"I vote we head to the Land of Water."

The others – excluding Takeo – had looked at the marine with surprised expressions. "...Are you sure...?" Naruto asked with his surprised expression changing in to a hesitant one. "That place is a literal death trap; we won't be able to see a thing." He warned the man.

"I know. But I think it's best if we do the difficult one first, so we don't have to deal with it later on down the line. Because even if we choose to go to the Land of Lightning or the Land of Earth, we will have to eventually go to the Land of Water once those two are over and done with." Dempsey explained to them in a lecturing manner.

"That's a fair point." Naruto said; he exhaled in acceptance and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay if you're serious about going down there, we'll need to find a way to see through the mist. Otherwise the zombies will swarm us and rip us to pieces."

"There vas one veapon that can do zhat, zhat vas being made by Harvey Yena. " Samantha said suddenly prompting everyone to stare at her with interest. Seeing she now had their attention Samantha nervously cleared her throat before continuing. "It is called 'Scavenger', and from what I had seen vhen you all vere trapped in zhat room it is a powerful sniper rifle. Vhen it vas upgraded by zhe Pack-A-Punch machine, it allowed the user to see anything around zhem even through mist."

"Harvey Yena? That name sounds familiar." Said an interested Dempsey who was stroking his light stubbled chin. "Can't remember why though. I may have heard that name being thrown around when we were still in Der Riese. So what does this Scavenger sniper rifle look like anyway?"

To answer his question Samantha closed her eyes and began scrunched up her face in concentration. A few long seconds later a holographic model of the Scavenger appeared in front of the girl. Laying their eyes on the rifle for the very first time, Takeo and Nikolai, Naruto and Dempsey couldn't help but let out an impressed whistle at the mere sight of it. Since Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey came from 1940s and Naruto came from a different place entirely' the sniper rifle looked futuristic. As if it came from the future. Like most of the weapons coming from the 1960s, the weapon is made entirely out of metal and attached at the end of the barrel appears to be a large metallic looking suppressant of some sort. On top of the main body of the rifle was a scope attachment.

After seeing the weapon for the first time, even though it was a holographic image Naruto said what was on everyone's mind. "...That is one awesome looking sniper rifle..."

"And it will allow us to see through the mist?" Takeo questioned Samantha as the holographic image of the Scavenger disappeared.

"Once it is upgraded vith zhe Pack-A-Punch machine, zhen yes, it vill."

"Is there anything we need to know about it?" Dempsey asked.

"It can fire only three rounds vhen it is not upgraded' and can fire six vhen it is." She paused a moment and then snapped her fingers in remembrance, almost palming her face for nearly forgetting to tell them an important fact. "I almost forgot about zhis, it can also fire explosive rounds!" She exclaimed with child-like enthusiasm.

"Explosive rounds? Like the grenades Dempsey and myself can use when we upgrade our M-16?" Naruto asked her for clarification.

"Yep! Zhat is zhe primary ammunition for zhe Scavenger!" The girl chirped out with enthusiasm.

No one spoke at the declaration and Samantha covered her mouth with a soft giggle at the looks on their faces. They looked as if they were salivating at the mere thought of a sniper rifle firing explosive rounds.

Suddenly Naruto whirled himself around to look at Dempsey and Takeo and Nikolai before saying in declaration. "I don't care what you three say, I'm having that weapon!"

And why? Because, why the fuck not? He wasn't a 13 year old boy anymore; he can handle some of the big guns now! Just not the Light machine guns such as the RPK or the HK21. Or the MG42 or the M1919 Browning. Or the bazookas like the Panzerschreck. Or the M2 flamethrower... Actually, now that he thought about it- he still was unable to use any of the more powerful weaponry at their disposal.

So with that in mind Naruto quickly raised his hands and said. "Actually, I changed my mind. I don't want to use it." Instead of asking him why the others merely shrugged it off.

"Okay, then I will take it!" Nikolai said in declaration.

"No! No you won't!" Naruto exclaimed in a panic.

"What?! Why!?"

"Do I need to remind you of the fact you brought down an entire building and made a bridge catch alight__with a grenade?"

"...That was a fluke."

"Oh, yeah, just a fluke." The sarcasm in Naruto's voice was so strong only a deaf person could miss it. "A building just so happens to collapse in on itself when a grenade you had thrown blew up, and that happens to be a fluke. And a bridge just so happens to catch alight when the grenade you had thrown blew up, was another fluke."

"The structures were rotting away. They were bound to collapse at any day now." Nikolai was steadfast in his defence.

"Those structures were pretty solid from what I could see- Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Samantha that hurts, stop pulling on my earlobe!" He exclaimed painstakingly with a wince. Naruto's response started out normal, only for him to yell out in surprised pain when Samantha cut him off halfway through his response when she suddenly grabbed his earlobe with her thumb, middle and index fingers and pulled on it.

Samantha didn't let go of him. She just tsked and tightened her grip even more, prompting Naruto to let out another pain filled yelp. "Nein, you are beginning to annoy me Naruto vith your pointles arguing." She exclaimed. "It looks like I vill have to..." She trailed off with a sinister - and somewhat perverted? He had no idea. It sounded really odd though. - sounding giggle before before she began to pull Naruto by the ear as she walked off in a random direction.

Samantha is someone who is more than human. Someone who is far beyond the realm of life and death. So it was pretty understandable that Naruto was really creeped out and began to panic when she began to giggle to herself in the tone.

"What do you mean...? Samantha! What do you mean!?" He asked his tone being shakingly calm before becoming panicky towards the end. Unfortunately for Naruto Samantha never answered and kept on pulling him by the earlobe; and through this exchange a bewildered Takeo, Dempsey and Nikolai was watching their retreating backs before the two teleported away leaving them to their own devices.

The three stared in the spot where Samantha and Naruto was before Dempsey stifled a laugh. He had a brief understanding what Samantha was going to do to him. And he couldn't help but find it hilariously funny.

"What a wimp."


End file.
